Heir of Atlantis
by runick4
Summary: Over 1000 years ago, the last of a dying race sank the island of atlantis. Over a thousand years later, a boy comes into an inheritance on his 14th birthday, transforming into a creature that has not been seen since that day. Watch as Harry deals with his inheritance, and the reactions of the wizarding world. AU CD/HP slash, mpreg, Evil!Manip!Dumbles, Creature!Harry, Powerful!Harry
1. Prologue

Disclaimer:

I do not own anything of Harry Potter, and I am not writing for profit or any other reason besides my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of others

Warning:

This fic has male/male relationships, also mpreg is mentioned and later a part of the story, though it will be a while off. If you do not like reading slash or mpreg fanfics then do not read.

There is also a decent level of violence, but not too detailed, as I really don't want to describe in minute detail how someone died.

Finally, and sorry I forgot to mention this in earlier drafts of this chapter, this story has WeasleyBashing (minus twins, Bill, and Charlie) DumblesBashing, and maybe some other bashing later for things I haven't decided on yet. Anyway, enjoy!

Prologue: The Siege of Atlantis:

Arcturus watched from his balcony as the great mass of ships surrounded his beloved city. The skies were so peaceful, the oceans calm, yet the scene was anything but. Burning hulls of ships littered the waters around the island. Craters from spell-fire and elemental attacks were torn into the gleaming white walls and streets of his city. The cries of pain and the sounds of explosions shook the air, and all he could think was _how did it come to this?_

The sea was filled with a great number of ships, so many that it felt as if he could see them all the way to the horizon. The sea was filled with broken hulls, masts made of once great trees floating in the water along with the bodies of those who had been on the ships. So many different flags, of clans of humans, wizards, dwarves, and rogue elementals, all of them here to destroy his beloved city, and all that it stood for.

The great gleaming walls of his city were blackened and smoking. Made out of the earth of the island itself, they were near fifteen cubits thick and covered with runes, nigh impenetrable, if not for the powerful spells thrown at them by the wizards and elementals among the enemy fleet. Even with the runes protecting them, they could still fall from enough damage.

Along the great walls of his city, there were a series of towers, connected to the walls by a series of walkways with railings, hundreds of feet above the ground. Each of these towers was occupied by one of his elementals, providing a decent amount of cover from attacks, but nowhere near enough to completely protect them from the rain of arrows and spell-fire from the enemy fleet.

As he watched, there was a great flash of light, a fire elemental on his side had thrown a bolt towards one of the ships, only for it to dissipate meters away from the hull. Several more fireballs were thrown at multiple angles, all of them dissolving in midair while spells were returned by those on the ship, along with a hail of arrows. The fire elemental threw up a wall of flame, but he never stood a chance, and Arcturus looked away when he saw the man fall to the ground, pierced by the molten remains of the arrowheads.

He watched as another elemental, a water one, was gathering water in his hands and sending it as a great rain of arrow-like spikes, hard and razor sharp. His first attack cut down a large number of those on the ship he was attacking, but his second volley was deflected and a different ship returned fire, killing him as well.

The earth elementals were doing the most damage, when they actually managed to hit a ship. They were lifting great slabs of earth, throwing them at the enemy ships and crushing a good number of them under the weight. The air elementals were right beside them, using their abilities to deflect many of the arrows and spells away from the heavy hitters, as they were one of the few groups of elementals that actually stood a chance of helping them defend the walls. As he watched, Arcturus saw a great mass of water lift from one of the lead ships, one of the ones that had not been hit at all, and realized that this was a very powerful water elemental, at least for a wizard. The sphere of water rose into the air, freezing and hardening into a spiked ball that was flung at the defending earth elementals. They were crushed before they even knew what was happening.

Arcturus felt despair in his heart, as his saw yet another fire elemental take out a single ship with a bolt of fire through the center, and was then struck by a spell, a gaping hole through his body causing him to collapse to the ground. One of the few earth elementals left after the water spike ball attack launched another attack at that ship, but was killed by a sliver of ice in his heart as soon as he launched the attack.

His elementals were dropping like flies, one after the other in the face of such a massive onslaught. For every ship that they destroyed, it seemed as if ten took their place. There were so many of them, the sea was filled with the wrecks of the ships and the bodies of their crews, but there were still so many of them that these deaths were insignificant compared to the great numbers of the army at the walls. Arcturus saw the ship that had killed the earth elementals coming closer, then another ball of ice flew over the wall, bursting into shrapnel that rained on the streets below. Arcturus' eyes narrowed. Was it…?

Focusing on that ship, he looked for sight he was dreading, desperately hoping that he was wrong. He saw the man, white tinging his beard, raising his hands again and firing another one of the shrapnel balls, and knew it was him. It was his son.

The feeling of anger mixed with misery filled him. _Why Merlin? What did we ever do to you to make you turn against us? What did we do to make you kill your own family? _Arcturus knew that his questions would never be answered. But it hurt him to think that his own son, Merlin, one of the most powerful wizards in the world, would hate him and his family so much that he would kill them, every last one of them, even his non-magical sire, just to sate the great anger and envy that he had in his heart.

Arcturus still hurt deeply from the loss of his mate, the other side of his heart, and the fact that Merlin had been the one to lead the wizards to kill his mate and his family was painful beyond imagination. What had it been to cause Merlin to do such a thing? Why did he hate his own family so much?

Arcturus knew that he hadn't spent as much time with his son as he did with his other children, but he thought the he had shown Merlin how much he had cared for him, the times he had sat on his lap while Arcturus told him stories of the ancient druids and kingdoms lost to the veil of time, the games of water rebound where Merlin usually ended up being soaked, and squealing from laughter and joy. What had caused Merlin to change from such a loving child to the monster that he was now? Was it really petty jealousy that he was not one of them, not a Dracken, that caused him to turn around and hate them?

Truly, Merlin had been one of the few of his children that had not been born a Dracken, but did he really hate his family that much for having something that he did not? Did he hate them for the fact that he was only a relatively weak elemental, while his entire family was exceedingly powerful in that branch of magic? Or was it the physical attributes, the fact that he did not have the abilities and strengths of a Dracken that caused him to hate them?

Arcturus knew, like all other Drackens, that his race was naturally stronger and faster than normal wizards, and were essentially immortal, as long as their mates were alive or someone didn't manage to behead them. Their mates could share the immortality, if they bonded with their Dracken mate early on, and acted as the protector of the Dracken.

Drackens were naturally submissive creatures, needing another wizard or non-magical male to sire their children, and to protect them during the time that the child was growing in the womb. After a Dracken passed four months in the pregnancy, their abilities became increasingly unstable, needing the mate to ground them and help control the flow of magic through their bodies. Drackens were nothing without their mates, their mates were everything to them, and once a mate died, the Dracken usually followed.

Besides that, Drackens had the ability to transform into a more Draconic form. Drackens had three forms actually, one was their human form, which was their primary form and was basically human, along with a light amount of scales showing along the spine and ridges of the face. The Dracken's entire body was actually covered in these scales, but they were always hidden, under the skin so that they could protect the body from hostile magic. Drackens were very resistant to magical attacks. The only way to really kill a Dracken was to either kill its mate, or behead them as they could regenerate anything else.

The second form of the Dracken was known to them as the hybrid form, a mix between dragon and humanoid, all of the scales were showing in this form, while the body was mostly human and stronger than in human form. This form was also interesting in that it had wings about twice the arm-span of the Dracken, mostly useful for flying out of trouble or navigating small areas quickly.

Their final form was the dragon form. Drackens, being a hybrid of humans and Dragons, were able to assume the shape of elemental dragons, their long extinct ancestors, who were once known for their fearsome intelligence and magical power, far greater than anything a Dracken could do. The dragon form of a Dracken was also very powerful, but not much more so than that of a Dracken in human form, as it would be dangerous for the magical core to constantly change size between the transformations.

Arcturus watched as yet another enemy ship was destroyed, and felt the despair once again at the thought of how futile their defense was.

How he longed to be with his mate once again. It had been only a year since his Alan had died, but every day felt bleak and colorless without him. Nothing really held any joy for him without his mate, his heart, the other part of his soul. He felt like an empty husk, with only the desire to protect his city keeping him from joining his mate once again. But because of his mate's death, he no longer had the ability to control his powers, his elemental abilities would easily go out of control without him having his mate for so long. If he tried to defend the city, it would be far more likely that he would destroy it, his control over his attacks was nearly gone. He could only use his elemental abilities by using every ounce of his concentration to focus on what he wanted to do, otherwise his magic was liable to cause something to explode. He could not fight in combat anymore, as he would need to stand perfectly still to use his attacks, and standing still like that was a guarantee that you will die in combat. So he had no choice to stand here on the balcony, and watch as his city was torn apart.

An explosion caught his attention once again, and he saw the last of the elementals defending the city fall. The ships were beginning to land, the wizards aboard them bombarding the walls of his beloved city while the infantry prepared to storm the city. Merlin was the first to break through the wall, striking it with a powerful blast of destructive magic. His son strode in slowly, watching as the nonmagicals swarmed forward, shouting and running through the streets towards his palace, killing any and all of the people hiding in their homes. Merlin followed after them, a small group of wizards trailing behind him. His eyes were on the tower, Arcturus' tower, and his face showed no emotion for the deaths of the people of the city, cut down by the ruthless invaders.

Arcturus watched as the great walls of his city broke down in six other locations, the warriors on the boats roaring as they swarmed into the city, killing any and all that they found. He could hear the shrieks of pain, the bellows of the few men left trying to defend their families from the soldiers, and turned away from his balcony, not able to see the death and destruction any longer.

He had built this city, along with a number of earth elementals over 500 years ago. It had once been a center of trade in the new world, a place of commerce and peace where every race that walked the earth could come to learn and meet new people. It had been such a beautiful place for so long, and he had ruled it with a fair hand, dealing with all punishments himself. He was a very gentle ruler, and was once a very loving father? mother? he wasn't sure what the term for him would be in that case. This city had been his great dream, and now everything, every life, every building, every library scroll and magical weapon in the armory would be destroyed and razed to the ground.

Arcturus looked around his chambers, the normally soothing colors seeming to mock him. All that he had worked for would be gone in a manner of days. Centuries of research and collection gone in an instant. _How could you do this Merlin?_

At first, he had been slightly optimistic about repelling the enemy, but now that he realized that the city was lost, there was only one more thing to do.

He closed his eyes, envisioning the burning sensation in his soul that came whenever he used his fire elemental abilities, and disappeared in a flash of flame to the library.

The library was in his tower, actually it was under it, deep below the ground and only accessible to those that had the ability to travel by flame or shadow, but he was the only one who knew the location of the library, He landed on his legs, swaying a little from the usage of his abilities, and concentrated deeply on what he wanted to do. He closed his eyes, seeing in his mind as the tendrils of magic spread from his feet into the floor, moving forward and encompassing the entire room, searching for flaws, cracks, anything wrong with the earthen walls. He found a few small holes, then used his magic to slowly seal them, making the room entirely airtight, closing the vents and any way for water to come into the room. When he was done, he sat back down again, winded from the usage of magic. His magical channels were screaming at him, but he ignored them and stood again.

He looked around the ancient room, seeing the shelves of priceless scrolls and weapons hanging on the walls. He searched, and finally nodded to himself when he found an orb of swirling light, about the size of his head, on a pedestal at the end of his room. Walking over to it, he placed his hand on the surface, letting the memories of the past few days pass into the orb before letting go and standing back from the orb, noticing that the glow was now slightly more pronounced.

He opened the vent to the surface again, reaching out with his magic and touching the air, feeling his mind encompass the air around the vent, then spreading his consciousness around the very island itself. He reached the water, and with a forceful pull from his mind, began leaching the very warmth out of the water, stealing every bit of energy that he could. He felt the water freezing around the island, and moved onto the air, making the breaths of the warriors attacking his city appear in a cloud, their minds screaming at them that something was deadly wrong. He felt the massive surge of energy rushing into his body, making his magical channels groan from the strain, but he ignored the pain, ignored everything but what he was about to do, his final task as the leader of Atlantis.

Arcturus closed his eyes again, flooding the power that he stole from the oceans into the ground. He felt his influence spreading, covering the entire island in minutes. He felt his magic go deeper, under the island, moving slower and slower but eventually reaching the foundations of the island itself. He searched for the flaws in them, and instead of trying to heal them, spread his influence into those areas, widening the cracks and shifting the earth around them. It was slow going, and his body was aching, desperate for a release that he could not, would not grant. He felt his channels weakening, and with a sudden, desperate, burst of energy, he cracked the foundations in two, feeling the entire island tremble from the loss of the support. With a sigh of relief, he forced his shaking magic to close the vent once more, and let himself collapse to the ground, the magical energy exploding out of his body and into the earth itself.

The energy flew upward, out of the underground library, and flowing into the very top of the tower, where a group of soldiers had just succeeded in breaking down the door. With a roar, the energy tore through the non-magicals and magicals alike, missing only one elemental, a tall old man that disappeared just before being hit. From there, the energy spread throughout the sinking city, sweeping through enemies and allies alike and absorbing their energy, swirling around them as the water came over the walls of the city and wiped out any life remaining.

As the city sank into the ocean, the energy, now semi-sentient from those that had fallen to it, swirled around the site. They would protect the lost city until the next great heir would come, making it so that no non-magical or magical human could come near the city and survive. Only the true heir would be able to access the city, to even reach it. Only the heir would be able to unlock the lost secrets of Atlantis, but that heir would not come for a very long time, in the form of a fourteen year old boy.

As for the wizard that flashed away, Merlin went on to return to his home in the old world, where he became known as a great and powerful wizard. It soon became evident to this wizard, however, that he had indeed inherited something from his father's Dracken genes after all. He had found a lover, one that would treat him like an ordinary man, no matter his age. He watched as his lover withered over in time, dying 107 years after they first met. Merlin would never truly live on after this loss, becoming more reclusive and temperamental, wondering if this extended life was a curse for what he had done to his family.

It wasn't until 250 years after the destruction of Atlantis that Merlin realized he was withering, without a single heir to carry on his line, as there was no way for males to get pregnant in those days, unless they were a magical creature that could carry like a Dracken. Never more had Merlin hated not being a Dracken, not being able to carry on his own child. He found a powerful witch willing to bear his child, and using a spell, insured the conception of his child, a son he named Godric of Gryffindor.

Merlin never did tell Godric about his ancestors, preferring to say that his family was dead, and that was it. He did not tell him stories of Atlantis or the great battle that took place there, but other legends of the island still lived, spread by those who had at one time known where the island was, and how it had been a great hub in the new world for trade, which was now impossible due to the inherent hostility of the natives. It was from these stories that the legend of the island of Atlantis came alive, but as with all stories, they became distorted over time, eventually only saying that the island had been struck by a terrible event which caused it to sink beneath the sea. It would be over a thousand years before Atlantis was rediscovered by the heir, but once it was, it would usher in a new era of knowledge and creation, along with war.

End chapter

Edited as of 3/7/2013


	2. Chapt 1:Sirius is innocent?

Ch1: Sirius is innocent?

"What do you mean he didn't betray them?" Harry shouted, his parents' supposed murderer standing right in front of him.

"I didn't betray them Harry, I…"

"If you didn't betray them who did then? Everyone says that you are the one that did it and though I know the wizarding world hardly looks beyond their own noses for factual truths about people, unless you have some kind of proof that you didn't do it I have to believe that you did."

Hermione looked a bit surprised by that statement, looking ready to argue about the fact that the wizarding world had shoddy investigation skills when Harry gave her a look that distinctly said "Don't even think about it." She quickly shut her mouth. No matter how short Harry was, he was _very_ intimidating when he was angry.

Remus spoke up tentatively. "Harry," Harry whipped his head facing directly towards Lupin, yet still watching Black out of the corner of his eye.

Remus cleared his throat. "Harry, Sirius was convicted for the murder of both Peter Pettigrew and the muggles in the street, yet if that is the case, why is Peter Pettigrew still alive?"

Harry stopped, remembering that day that he had seen Peter on the map, but had been unable to find him.

"What are you saying, that Peter was the one that killed all those muggles, and then somehow escaped?"

Sirius broke back in "Yes Harry, that is exactly it, the traitor yelled out to the whole street about how it was my fault that Lily and James had died, and then blew up the street behind him, cutting off his finger and turning into a rat."

_A rat. _Harry looked down at the rat squirming in Ron's arms, noticing for the first time the missing claw on his front paw. "Ron." he reached toward the rat.

Ron shook his head, "You're bloody insane mate, Scabbers is just a rat, he's been in my family for…"

"Over ten years Ron." Harry interrupted. "And he is missing a finger on his front paw, just like Pettigrew."

"Ronald" Remus spoke up. "We are only going to cast a spell on the rat to see if it is really an animagus. If Scabbers isn't really Pettigrew, he will not be harmed at all."

Ron shook his head, mumbling "Mad, completely mad, Scabbers an animagus."

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed. "Just hand over the bloody rat and we'll know for sure, they just said that it won't hurt him if he isn't an animagus."

Ron didn't get a chance to retort as Scabbers bit him and tried to make his escape. Twin cries of _petrificus totalus _and and a spell that Harry didn't catch hit the rat, forcing it to grow and turn into a short balding man with slightly protruding teeth. Harry would of snorted if the situation wasn't what it was. The man looked every bit the rat.

The man's eyes were moving quickly, the terror easily evident in them. Ron was staring at the man in horror, Hermione looked, apprehensive would be the best description that Harry could find for her expression. Sirius's eyes were dark and filled with rage, and it was only Lupin holding him back that kept him from strangling the rat with his bare hands.

"Let me go Moony!" "Let me go!"

"Moony?" Harry whispered to himself, before looking at Sirius and walking in front of him. Holding his attention.

"Black." Harry said quietly, looking at the man that was trying to escape the frail looking teacher's arms."

The man looked at him for a second, then said "Its Sirius."

"Sirius then, …if you kill the _rat_, Harry spat, then continued, "you wouldn't be able to prove that you are innocent , and if you are my godfather, I want to live with you."

"But Harry, Dumbledore said that the Dursleys…" Hermione began

"I don't care what Dumbledore said Hermione, I hate my relatives, and they hate me even more! There is no way I am going back there! They put bars on my windows last summer for Merlin's sake!"

"The Dursleys? Dumbledore put you with Tuney?" Sirius shouted, his attention no longer on the petrified rat.

Harry flinched slightly at the volume, but nodded, memories of the punishments and starvation threatening to overwhelm him. He felt tears in his eyes, and was startled when the man rushed over and held him tightly.

Hermione and Ron stood there shocked, and a glance of unease at what Dumbledore would say about this, though they went unnoticed as both Sirius and Remus had all of their attention on Harry.

Harry felt so ashamed of himself. Years of living with the Dursleys had taught him to suppress his emotions, his tears, everything really, and now he was crying like a baby against a man he barely knew, hugging him for all he was worth.

Harry tried to get back out of the embrace, embarrassed by his behavior, but Sirius wouldn't let him, holding him even tighter.

"I am so sorry pup, I never thought that Dumbledore would put you with those awful muggles." He whispered sorrowfully, his chest vibrating when he spoke. Harry leaned into the embrace, feeling for once what he was supposed to feel with family, safety.

The man's comment bothered him a little though."What do you mean? They were my only family left."

Anger tinted Sirius' voice as he forced Harry to look at him. "Your parents said in their will that you were not to be sent to Lily's sister under any circumstances; even if you couldn't go with me, you should have gone to the Bones or the Diggorys. Even the Malfoys would be better than _Petunia Dursley!"_ he spat.

Harry felt anger clawing up inside of him. Dumbledore had put him in an hateful home when there were other options? Forget angry, he was furious. He had spent years suffering under those muggles, and Dumbledore had known that there were other places for him to go and went directly _against_ his parent's wishes anyway. Who the hell did he think he was? Sadness welled up inside him, and he grasped his godfather even tighter. None of them noticed when the other two students left the shack.

"Why?" He asked brokenly. Sirius just shook his head sadly, and pulled him back into a hug,

After a few moments of silence, Remus spoke.

"Siri? The full moon is coming up soon, we need to get going before…" He trailed off.

"Right." Sirius nodded, reluctantly letting go of Harry and transforming into his grim form.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked, completely ignoring his friends in favor of the situation in front of him.

"We need to clear a few things up at the ministry." Remus said.

After Remus forced Pettigrew back into his animagus form, the three of them quickly walked to the three broomsticks and then flooed to the ministry.

It was relatively easy for Sirius to sneak in, none of the wizards or witches even thought of the possibility that the large grim like dog walking next to the young man and what looked to be his guardian was an animagus, and there were no detection spells or revealing spells at the entrance, something Harry found more than a little stupid.

The ministry was a maze of wizards and witches wearing the strangest colors and combinations of robes Harry had ever seen. He honestly had no idea how these people could even walk with the stuff they were wearing. Shouldn't they be tripping every few seconds?

He knew that they were here to clear Sirius' name. What he didn't know was how they were planning to do it. After all, Sirius was supposed to be kissed on sight, and somehow he doubted that the people in charge would even be willing to listen to the idea of his godfather being innocent. If there was anything he had learned about the wizarding world, it was that if they believed in something, they would refute any evidence to the contrary.

After riding the lift, they got off at the department of magical law enforcement.

It was here where they encountered some trouble.

"Madam Bones has no time to spend dealing with riffraff like you _werewolf._ The man sneered at Professor Lupin and Harry glared at him. He knew that discrimination against werewolves was rampant, but to see it in front of his eyes made it much more real, and disgusting.

Professor Lupin seemed completely used to this behavior though, and kept his calm. "I need to speak with her concerning the search for Sirius Black, it is-"

"I don't care if you've come to tell me you-know-who returned from the dead! You're not going in to meet her, not without going through me!"

"She needs to know!"

"No she doesn't you mangy beast! Get out of here before I -"

"Auror Fergenson! Cease with this deplorable behavior at once!"

The man paled as a woman with a monocle came storming out of her office. "But Madam Bones, this werewolf-"

"Said that he has information concerning the escaped criminal Black, and you refuse to let him speak?" She hissed at him.

"But he's a -"

"I do not care who or what he is, if he has information that can help us find Black." Her eyes narrowed at the Auror. "Leave us now and I might not demote you to paper runner."

"Yes Madam Bones!" The man paled even further before he bid a hasty retreat.

"My apologies for Auror Fergenson." She said once the man was gone.

"No need." Remus waved it off. He was far too used to it to care anymore. Harry was glaring in the direction of the departed Auror, wishing he was here so that he could curse him with slugs or something.

She nodded sharply and gestured to her office, two Aurors following them inside.

"You said you had found information regarding to Sirius Black." She said once she was seated. "Well then, out with it."

Remus slowly reached into his pocket and brought out the rat, and Sirius growled lowly before Harry bopped him on the head with a glare. Director Bones gave the dog a curious glance, but seemed to dismiss it as a familiar.

"May I cast a spell on the rat?" He asked. The director gave him a slightly impatient look while the two Auror guards tensed in their positions, but they did nothing.

_Animus Revelio!_

So that was what the spell was called.

As soon as the spell hit, Harry watched as the greasy looking man appeared once again.

The woman looked at Lupin sharply before getting off of her desk and scrutinizing the still petrified man. She gasped lightly and turned to stare at Lupin. "This cannot be….Peter Pettigrew?"

Lupin, Harry and Sirius the dog nodded at once, the dog receiving strange looks. Without warning the director cast the same spell at Sirius and the dog was too slow to react. He grew up into the gaunt man Harry had seen in the Shrieking Shack and the Aurors both raised their wands threateningly.

Without thinking, Harry jumped in front of them."Wait! He's innocent!"

The two Aurors looked uncomfortable, not sure they could hit Black without hitting the child, before the director barked out. "Put down your wands and one of you go get me a vial of veritaserum, _without _telling anyone what is going on in here or I will have your badge." The two of them looked at each other uneasily, but one left to get the requested potion while the other watched the visitors warily.

Harry barely noticed what he had done until the Auror left, and Sirius gave him a thankful smile. He gave the man a tentative one back. He didn't know him, not really, but the chance of not having to go back to the Dursleys was something that he could not miss.

Bones levitated the petrified Pettigrew to a conjured chair before silencing the man and undoing the spell. The man tried to transform back to a rat, but found himself unable to do so with the chains.

When the second Auror came back with the Veritaserum, which given by the latin, meant truth serum, Madam Bones wasted no time dosing the man and interrogating him, a quill poised to write whatever she said.

"What is your name?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

She paled lightly before shaking her head and continuing

"When did you graduate Hogwarts?"

"Spring of 1978."

Amelia nodded to herself, sure that the potion, which Harry was now certain was a truth potion, was now working.

"Did Sirius Black betray the Potters?" Sirius bristled at the question, and Harry gripped his side tightly in reassurance. The man gave him a thankful smile.

"No."

"Do you know who betrayed the Potters?"

"Yes."

"Who betrayed the Potters?"

Petter seemed to struggle against the potion for a brief moment before admitting in a toneless voice "I did."

Amelia gave a sharp look to the quill, to make sure it was writing all this, while Harry noticed that the dark skinned Auror was looking slightly disbelieving.

"How did you betray the Potters?"

"The Potters decided that it was too obvious for Black to have been their secret keeper, so they decided to use him as a decoy. When they changed it to me, I was able to bring it to my master, and he was able to go after the Potters."

Amelia looked at the man in disgust, before asking "You were a Death Eater?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"Soon after graduation."

Peter's eyes seemed to be clearing up, and Amelia looked the paper once again.

"I believe that is all we need for now, to prove Black's innocence." She nodded to the dark-skinned Auror, who softly spoke a spell, and caused a beam of red light to crash into the bound form of Peter Pettigrew. The man sagged against the chair, but Harry could see he was still breathing, and he relaxed noticeably. Madam Bones looked at him almost amused,

"Well Mr. Potter, it seems as if we are done here for now. She gave Sirius a slightly stern look and said. "Wait here, I will need to inform the minister and call off the search. She left the office, but not before leaving the two Aurors with strict instructions to stay in the room. Harry briefly noticed that the black Auror looked slightly uncomfortable at the order, but he did not disobey it.

It was only a few minutes later when she came back with a piece of paper in her hand and a red faced minister huffing and puffing after her.

"AMELIA, YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS, BLACK IS A CRIMINAL! HE MUST BE KISSED!" He shouted at her, not even taking notice of the room until he saw Sirius standing there and fainted. Harry gaped at the man before he started to snicker against Sirius' chest. Sirius gave off a low chuckle, and even Madam Bones had a half smile before she directed Sirius to start signing a few papers. He did have to give an oath that he had not done any of the actions he had been accused of, but after that it was relatively easy.

After Sirius was given a letter along with a Ministry document that declared him a free man, Harry and Sirius immediately walked to the Magical Custody office with an escort of three Aurors.

Minutes after they left Dumbledore came running into the office, but he would find no help in locating Harry from Amelia, who now knew he had let the heir of a noble house go to prison without a trial.

* * *

Due to Fudge's ranting, it was likely that the entire ministry now knew that Sirius was innocent. The people that watched them go by were whispering and pointing, for once, not at him, but at the man walking close behind him.

Thanks to Amelia's recommendation, Sirius was quickly able to overturn Dumbledore's magical guardianship of Harry(Who was silently fuming that the man had been his so called guardian for so long but had done nothing to help him when he was at the Dursleys). While they were there, they had learned that Harry had never been formally adopted by the Dursleys under law, which thankfully, made assigning his guardianship to Sirius much easier. Once they left the office Amelia gave Sirius a stern lecture about registering his Animagus form as soon as possible, as she did not want to have to arrest him again. Harry had been quite amused when his godfather started stammering in apology. Not that he blamed him, Madam Bones was very intimidating.

After making sure that everything was in order, and promising that he would indeed visit the Animagus registration office, Sirius had called for Kreacher, a nasty ancient looking house-elf that would not stop muttering about half-bloods and traitors to the house. Harry had been grateful Sirius had sent the hateful little thing to Hogwarts to quickly pick up Harry's things, and the two of them began to make plans of what they were going to do next. It was late, probably past midnight, and Harry, despite all the excitement, was starting to feel tired.

"Siri, where do you live?" Harry finally asked.

The man went quiet for a bit, before answering. "There is a house that was known as my family's home, but to be honest, I can't stand the place, and I have more than enough money in my vaults to buy a new property, if there aren't any good ones left."

Sirius leaned forward, then told him quietly. "I don't believe that any of the houses will be any good, but we can go to Gringotts tomorrow and look at the options we have available." Harry nodded, and Kreacher soon reappeared with Harry's belongings. Harry felt kind of bad for leaving Hogwarts without telling Ron and Hermione, but promised to himself that he would send them letters the next day explaining why.

"Harry?"

"Yeah Siri?" Harry asked, blinking drowsily.

"Grab my hand, we need to apparate to the Leaky Cauldron."

"Whats…_yawn…._apparating?"

"It is basically, um what do the muggles call it….teleportation, but it is kinda uncomfortable the first time."

Harry did not hesitate to put his hand in his godfather's, idly wondering why he was so trusting of the man he had just met today, and then all he knew was an _extremely_ uncomfortable sensation that he likened to being squeezed through a tube. The next thing he knew, they were standing in front of the Leaky Cauldron, and Siri had transformed into his Grim form. After asking Tom for a room with a large bed, Harry and his dogfath…..godfather took the stairs to room 11. Quickly opening the door and shucking off his pants, Harry curled up in the bed and fell asleep almost immediately. Sirius took a shower soon after entering the room, and as he walked out, drying himself off, saw his godson curled up on the bed, a peaceful smile on his face.

Smiling softly, Sirius grabbed his godson's wand and transfigured himself some pajamas, idly wondering if they would last until the morning. He pulled in next to his godson, slightly surprised when Harry unconsciously moved over and curled into his side, but he did not move. After shifting over slightly to make himself more comfortable, he glanced up at the ceiling, wondering how his life could have been turned around so quickly, and soon followed his godson into the realm of morpheus.

End Chapter

Note: This is the newest revision of the chapter, and it diverges quite a bit from the original. When I was doing the re-write, I thought about how Dumbledore just lets them contact the DMLE, and realized that if he wanted to keep in control, he would have not done such a thing. Also, there was the fact that the man was responsible (partly) for Sirius going to Azkaban, and there is no way Sirius would have trusted him after that, so they went to the DMLE.

Edited 3/7/2013


	3. Chapt 2: Of Banks and Thieves

Ch2: Of Banks and Thieves

When Sirius woke up, the first thing he noticed was that sometime during the night, his Godson had somehow managed to take all of the blanket from him. Thankfully it had been a bit warm in Britain as Spring shifted into Summer, so he wasn't completely frozen. Stifling a groan at his creaking bones, he gave a sad glance at his body. Over a decade in Azkaban had not done him any good, he looked little better than a human skeleton.

Looking back at his godson, he noticed that if he had not known better, he would have thought that Harry was only ten or eleven years old. He looked so tiny and frail when he was curled up like that, and he could see the damage that years of neglect done by the Dursleys had left on his nephew. He had never hated himself more than he did now, for failing James and Lily like this, their son looked nearly as bad as he did, and he just got out of Azkaban for Merlin's sake! It looked like they would both need a trip to St. Mungos after they finished what they were doing in Diagon Alley, which reminded him. _What the hell am I going to do for clothes?_ He looked around for his Godson's wand, and was relieved when he found it on the dresser.

He quickly checked to make sure his godson was still asleep, and was about to conjure himself some new clothes when he realized that if he did, his godson would get in trouble with the ministry. In fact, he was surprised that they hadn't sent Harry any owls about underage magic, given the fact he had used his wand to conjure some pajamas. Just as he thought that, a magnificent snowy owl made its way through the window and landed on the edge of the bed. It was staring at Sirius, and if he did not know better, he would swear that the owl was assessing him somehow. He blinked when the owl seemed to nod towards him before landing on his shoulder and nipping his ear softly.

"You're not from the Ministry are you?" he whispered, even though he didn't see any letter. The owl looked at him, amber eyes locked onto his own and feathers puffed up slightly with an expression that seemed to say "Are you stupid?" then nipped his ear a bit harshly and took off, landing on the headboard behind his godson, gently running its beak through his hair.

"Guess not." Sirius murmured, but more to himself than anyone else. He kept on watching the owl, to make sure that it wasn't hurting his godson, and was bemused to see that it was acting more like a fussing mother than anything else. He shook his head, those years in Azkaban had not done much for his sanity if he thought an owl was mothering his godson.

Sirius spent the next few minutes searching for a piece of parchment, and then a quill from his godson's school supplies. He then began writing a list of all the things that they needed to do that day; Gringotts, clothes, and St. Mungos being the first three. It was an interesting fact that his wand came after clothes in his priority list, but then again this was Sirius Black.

He looked back at the owl, then at the parchment, then slapped his head and took another piece of Parchment to write a letter to Madam Malkin. He made sure to send it as quickly as possible, after seeing the owls of the Daily Prophet making their way to deliver the papers a few minutes earlier. Hopefully he would be able to have his clothes prepared beforehand so that he could send his godson to pick them while he went in dog form. He slowly made his way over to the owl that was standing guard over Harry, and got its attention by waving the rolled up parchment in front of its beak. The owl gave a sidelong glance at Harry, then at him forcefully, as if it were telling him to stand guard over Harry. It then took off before he could even tell where the letter was supposed to go.

Sirius, who by now had guessed that this wonderful owl was his godson's, watched as it made its way down the alley. He turned around when he heard a sound that he himself had made when he was in his Animagus form.

He turned around, looking at his godson's bed, then noticed that a few minutes after his godson made another whining noise in his throat. His hands were grasping at the sheets as if he was looking for something, and with a jolt Sirius realized that it was him his Godson was looking for. He had no idea of what to do. Merlin knew he had very little experience with children, as Harry had only been a little more than a year old the last time he had seen him, but he did know that thirteen year olds were not known to sleep in the same bed as their parents. He had only done that because there was no other bed, and he felt that it would be wrong somehow if he slept in the same bed as his soon-to-be-fourteen year old godson. But at the same time, Harry seemed to be desperate, the whining sound more pronounced than before as he started to toss and turn.

With a sigh of resignation, he got back on the bed, only for his godson to curl around him and start rumbling deep in his chest. Sirius blinked at his godson in astonishment. Was he purring? He gently scratched his godson on top of the head, and was more than a little surprised when the boy arched his back slightly like a cat, making pleased mewling sounds. _Ok then, add searching Potter family tree for creature inheritances to the list, there is no way that is normal wizard behavior._

He ended up laying in the bed for another half-hour before his godson started to wake up. His eyes opened blearily, then shot wide open when they saw Sirius. Harry jumped sideways, falling out of the bed and landing with a harsh thump. Obviously, he had forgotten what had happened yesterday.

_At least he's awake now._ Sirius thought before getting up to help his godson out of the sheets. Though Harry didn't seem to appreciate the humor in the situation, Sirius couldn't help think how adorable his godson looked at that moment. Hair mussed, eyes somewhat unfocussed, and a small pout on his lips made him double over in giggles. His godson was going to be a heartbreaker some day, though the protective godfather part of his said that day was a long day away, maybe in twenty years.

"Morning pup," he said after finally getting his laughter under control.

Harry gave him a dirty look, before starting to unwrap himself from the sheets. He blushed when he realized he was only wearing his boxers, stammering and pleading for Sirius to turn around so that he could change. Sirius rolled his eyes, but did turn around, hearing the sound of his godson rummaging through the trunk and searching for decent clothes. His godson said he could turn around, and he barely kept himself from growling when he saw the ridiculous clothes that he was wearing. Externally, he sighed.

"It looks like first thing after bank is clothes pup, for the both of us."

"Um Siri, no offense, but how are you going into Diagon Alley with those…oh right." Sirius in grim form was now sitting on his haunches, looking at Harry amusedly before transforming back into human form.

"Not to worry pup, I already sent out an order for Madam Malkins with that beautiful owl of yours, I was once one of her regular customers and I'm sure that she still has my measurements. The robes will be a bit big, but I will grow back into them eventually."

Harry nodded to show that he understood, before walking to the door and opening it, Sirius changing into his dog form and passing through the doorway, followed by Harry who locked the door behind them.

It was quite amusing to see Sirius running through the alleyway like an excited puppy. Many of the wizards had to jump away from the dog as it weaved through the crowds, bowling over several not-so-nice purebloods by 'accident'. Sirius was a skinny dog, but the joy that Harry could see in his face made up for how unhealthy his body looked. The funniest though, had been when he had snuck up to Narcissa Malfoy, (which he did surprisingly well for such a large dog) and relieved himself on what seemed to be _very_ expensive robes.

She shrieked and tried to kick at him, momentarily forgetting that she had a wand, and by the time that she had, Sirius had made his way back to Harry, deciding that he had his fun, and that now it was time to get to business.

Harry groaned when he saw Sirius was leading him to Madam Malkins, but internally, he was somewhat glad that they would be getting him something better than the rags that the Dursleys had provided him with. The woman sat behind the counter, looking just as he remembered. She had a bright and cheery face, though slightly disapproving of the very large dog that had entered her store with Harry.

"Hello Madam, my godfather said he sent you an order for clothes this morning, is there any chance that they have been finished?"

Madam Malkin was looking at Harry, then at the dog and back again. _When did Harry Potter get such a large dog? _She internally mused, before replying. "Not all of your godfather's clothes have been finished, but we have finished a few of the casual robes if he would like to try them on."

Strangely enough, the boy looked back at the dog, making a 'go on' motion with his hand. The dog seemed to huff, before its body blurred and shifted into the emaciated yet still somewhat handsome form of Sirius Black. Madam Malkin nearly fell off of her stool in surprise, before getting up and rushing at Sirius to give him a hug.

Sirius looked a bit baffled at the hug, but then looked at his godson and shrugged slightly. It wasn't like the woman was choking him.

Then, as if she had not just acted completely out of character, Madam Malkin stepped back and said. "And how are you doing today Lord Black?"

Sirius saw Harry mouth the words "Lord Black?" at him, but made a dismissive gesture. They would talk about that later.

Madam Malkin was looking over him a bit critically, tutting at how thin he was and making noises of disapproval over the curtains he was using to cover his modesty. Eventually she nodded, as if satisfied that the clothes would still fit him somewhat, before calling one of the girls working at her shop and asking her to get a few of Lord Black's new casual robes.

She came back, and immediately squealed when she saw Harry. He was so _adorable! _Like a little doll! Lord Black caught her eyes and shook his head, covering his mouth to hide a smile while Harry backed up slowly.

Harry was looking at the slightly crazed teenager warily, while Sirius was trying very hard to hide his amusement, and not succeeding very well. Madam Malkin was also looking very amused, though mentally she did agree that the boy was very cute, a little ragamuffin. The funniest part was how he was completely clueless of what had caused the girl to squeal like that. Eventually, she took pity on him, and asked the girl if she had grabbed the Lord's clothes.

The girl blushed when she realized she had completely forgotten what she had come for, and so handed over a small pile of shrunken robes, before Madam Malkin unshrunk them and handed them to Sirius, who quickly took off to the store's changing room, smirking slightly as he left his godson with the overly mothering women that wanted nothing more to coo and cuddle with his godson. He was also a bit resigned. The pup was already beating him!

Meanwhile Harry (who was not at all pleased with being left with the two woman who looked as if they wanted to grab him and keep him forever) was making sure to keep his distance from the both of them, eyes switching from Malkin to girl and back again so that neither of them could surprise him. He practically ran behind Sirius when he finally came back, looking from behind him with a slight bit of fear. He had no idea how much more that endeared him to the two woman, but Sirius, who now had a devilish smirk on his face, said.

"Pup, I still need to go get a wand, and since you need clothes…." two feminine squeals interrupted him, but he smiled as he grabbed his godson (who was far too light) and placed him back in front of him. Harry looked at the two women, then back at him pleadingly, but Sirius shook his head, mussing up his hair before walking towards the door.

"Madam, could you please find something for him that would be fitting for someone of his status?" She nodded.

"Good; Harry, I won't be back for a while, so enjoy yourself." His godson looked betrayed, but what really worried was the glint in his eye that looked exactly like Lily when she was planning on revenge. She had never been a part of the Mauraders, but the few times she had retaliated against them, they had come out sorely lacking. He had no desire to feel his godson's wrath right then, so he decided to quickly (as dignified as possible) leave the store.

Harry was already thinking of all the things that he had learned from the Weasley twins, and then of some of the pranks he had seen in the muggle world. The devilish smirk grew wider as he starting thinking of the possibilities of super-glue and sticking charms put together. As he was lead to a stool for his measurements, he was contemplating a combination of muggle dyes and coloring spells, now which combination would be really horrible?

Courtney (the girl) was in her element, moving around and taking note of Harry's measurements. She was a bit scared of the smirk on Harry's face, but as his gaze never wavered from the door that his godfather had left, she guessed that whatever he was thinking of (and it couldn't be good considering the look of unholy glee on the boy's face) had to do with his godfather. Besides the look on his face, she could barely keep herself from grabbing the boy and squeezing him tightly. He hadn't seemed too happy when she had tried to do it before, so she resigned herself to only getting him to try on new robes instead. Harry, coming out of his plotting, saw the look on her face and gulped visibly. This was not going to be any fun at all.

By the time that Sirius had come back, Harry felt as if he had tried on every article of clothing (male clothing anyway) in the store. But the girl, who he had learned was named Courtney, seemed to find more and more combinations of color so that she could keep on getting him to change again. He suspected that she was merely changing the colors on some of the clothes, as some of the styles looked suspiciously similar, but he couldn't do anything about it. He felt almost as if she were doing it on purpose, and he would have not been amused to know that he was actually right in that regard.

Sirius walked in to find his godson was nowhere in sight. Only slightly worried, he made his way to the changing room in the back of the shop, where he saw his godson coming out of the changing room with the girl that had brought him his robes looking over at him critically.

Harry, upon seeing Sirius, ran behind the man once again, not caring if he was mad at him, he just wanted to get away. "Save me Sirius! I've tried on the whole store at least once!"

Sirius looked back at the girl, seeing a slightly guilty expression before it was covered up, and winked at her. "I don't know Harry, we need to get you some clothes after all, and she works here, she can find you something better to wear." _Hell a troll could probably do that_. He thought with sudden venom at the Dursleys.

"But Siri!" Harry whined, holding himself into his godfather's side. Said godfather looked at the girl, raising an eyebrow in question.

Courtney nodded at the man, then started selecting several of the better fitting clothes, while grabbing the list of measurements as well. Sirius quickly looked at the items and made sure that they were of decent quality and appearance, then handed Harry one of the dark green casual robes and sent him off into the changing rooms once again.

He came back out, his lip curled up slightly as if he was pouting, which he probably was. Sirius went up to the countertop and paid, and as soon as he did Harry was practically pulling him to the door. Sirius, unable to resist the urge to tease his godson, said.

"Now Harry, aren't you going to say thank you?"

Harry turned to looked at Sirius with the most evil look he could muster, which given his appearance, wasn't much, but still worried the man slightly. _Why the hell is everyone treating me like a little kid! I'm almost fourteen for Merlin's sake!_

"Thank you for helping me find some clothes." He ground out.

The assistant beamed and nearly cooed at him. "You're welcome, come back any time Mr. Potter!"

Sirius answered before Harry could, saying "We will, thank you!" He then lead his godson out of the shop, shrinking his new clothes and placing them in his pocket, ignoring the look of betrayal and horror on his face. Sirius vowed right then and there to get a pensive, there was no way he was not watching this memory again.

They made their way quickly to the bank, passing the Magical Menagerie and Sirius caught his godson looking at the windows wistfully. Though he didn't say anything, Sirius had seen the look of longing in his face, and resolved to bring his godson there later. He knew that the owl was a good friend to Harry, but he didn't really mind the idea of spending money on his godson. He had years to make up for after all.

Harry couldn't help the slight feeling of apprehension as they entered the bank, the place was imposing, and the fact that the goblins were visibly armed did nothing to help him feel welcome. He was thankful that the bank wasn't too crowded at the moment, as immediately after he entered, it seemed like the peaceful witches and wizards standing in line dissolved into a mad mob, trying to reach him

_Protego orbis! _Sirius spoke, raising his wand over his head with a circular gesture. A blue white shield appeared over both him and Harry, just in time for the first wave of rabid witches and wizards to crash against it. Harry, grateful of the reprieve from the crowd, who had somehow gone into shock, led Sirius over to the nearest Goblin teller.

"Good morning Master goblin, my godson and I are here to look into the status of our accounts."

"Keys?" The goblin sounded almost bored.

Harry and Sirius looked at each other, then both said. "Don't have it."

The goblin teller seemed to sigh, before getting off of his stool and leading them to the large ornate doors that left the main room. By now the wizards and witches had reawakened from their stupor, but were too late to catch up with Harry and Sirius once the doors were shut. Harry sighed in relief when the doors closed. Did people think he wanted to be swarmed by a mob every time he went outside?

They were led down an expansive hallway of smooth black stone, small gas lights making it just bright enough to see where they were going, but not much else. They eventually stopped in front of a door with a plaque: ToothRot: Potter, Black, Malfoy, Lestrange Account Manager: Harry was mildly surprised to see this goblin taking on so many high profile families, but guessed that it was because of experience or something similar.

After the still unnamed goblin knocked, they waited a moment before a gravelly voice said "Come in."

Harry felt a slight tingle as they entered the room, but ignored it once he saw the place. The office was spacious, mostly painted in browns and reds, a fireplace behind the desk and various ceremonial weapons and shields hanging on the walls. Harry's attention, however, was focused on the ancient goblin that was sitting on the desk, muttering to himself as he looked over a folder that had a green and black crest with a M in the center, flanked by two dragons. Given the fact that this had to be one of the families that this goblin watched over, Harry guessed that the folder had to do with the Malfoy family.

The ancient goblin, seeing them come closer to the desk, put the folder away after marking one of the pages.

"Ah Lord Black, Mr. Potter, how may I help you?"

Harry was slightly confused, the other goblin had seemed suspicious of who they were, who did they know that they were the real Harry Potter and Sirius Black? There was such a thing as a potion to take another's appearance after all.

The goblin chuckled harshly, seeing Harry's expression. "We know that you are Harry Potter, and that Sirius Black is at least a member of the Black Family, otherwise the wards would have rejected you. Even the other families whose accounts I manage would be unable to enter under your guise, as they are already keyed in by their families' signature. If they tried, they would be rejected rather painfully.

Harry nodded in thanks, at least he didn't need to worry about Malfoy Senior getting into his things. The fact that it would hurt him a bit didn't bother him in the least.

"However, as a formality, we usually do an identity test to be sure." He motioned toward a bowl that Harry noticed was covered in runes, and a knife similarly covered. Sirius went first, pricking his finger and letting out three drops of blood, his cut healing almost instantly. A piece of parchment, which Harry noticed had a series of runes that seemed identical to the bowl, flashed and began writing out Sirius' family tree. Harry watched, fascinated, as the names appeared, black lines linking them for the most part, some of the names coming out in red or green ink instead of black. Harry watched these curiously, and asked the goblin what the green and red ink meant.

"The red is for squibs born into the family, Mr. Potter, while the green is for those members of the family that had a Magical creature inheritance."

"Magical creature inheritance?"

"Elves, Fae, Veela, Vampire, and Siren are some of the more common ones, though these inheritances are very rare in today's wizarding world, as the blood became too diluted." Sirius answered this time.

"Oh." Harry said softly. No one had ever told him about this sort of thing.

The paper finally finished, but why they needed to trace the family back so far Harry had no idea. ToothRot waved his hand over the parchment, and the Black family tree disappeared. He motioned for Harry to cut himself, and he did, a bit reluctantly. He watched as the drops fell into the bowl, then as his name appeared and lines started to form his parents and grandparents. He heard a gasp, then looked at Sirius, frowning. Sirius simply shook his head and pointed towards the bottom of the page. Confused, Harry looked back down. What was wrong with his….

Harry looked at his name in disbelief. Where there was once black ink was now a dark green. He looked at Sirius, who didn't look as surprised as he thought he would. He would have to ask him later.

He looked back at the goblin, almost shouting as he asked "What does that mean?"

The goblin, looked at the ink critically, then ran over the name with his finger. Harry watched as the entire tree vanished, and his name was written on the top, the rest of the paper was soon inked in a language he had no clue how to read. That too, disappeared, and was replaced with English text as Harry picked it up.

**Name : Harry James Potter**

**Creature Inheritance: Unknown.**

**Magical Abilities:**

**Parseltongue-Inheritance**

**Water Elemental-Inheritance**

**Earth Elemental-Inheritance**

**Fire Elemental-Inheritance**

**Air Elemental-Inheritance**

**Ability for Wandless magic-Inheritance**

**Other Abilities and enchantments:**

**Soul fragment of Tom Marvolo Riddle**

**Eidetic memory-repressed by unknown**

**Loyalty charm keyed to Ronald Weasley -placed by unknown**

**Loyalty charm keyed to Hermione Granger-placed by unknown**

The piece of parchment dropped from his fingers. Loyalty charms? Keyed to Ron and Hermione? What did that mean? Thoughts of the inheritance were swept out of his mind at the revelation that someone had _made_ him trust his friends, that they were not really his friends at all. And that thought was too much for him to bear.

Behind him, Sirius was seething. It was obvious that someone was trying to control Harry through his friends, the two people that he had trusted beyond all else. He heard his godson sob, and all thoughts of revenge left his mind as he brought his arms around Harry and tucked him to his chest, letting him have his cry. He still felt the anger burning in his stomach. He had been worried about his godson's life before, but the thought that his friendships had been engineered in such a way was sickening. And though he wasn't certain, he suspected that Albus Dumbledore was behind the charms, given the fact that he had done nothing to get him out of Azkaban when he knew that the Potters switched secret keepers.

He nodded resolutely, there was no way he was going to let his godson go back to Hogwarts. He would find some other way of getting his education, far away from the influence of Albus has-too-many-fucking-titles Dumbledore.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius noticed that ToothRot was looking over the parchment, his face becoming progressively darker and darker with rage. He eventually burst into a tirade of goblin-tongue that did not sound flattering in the least. Sirius actually felt a bit sorry for whoever faced the goblin next, as it would not be pretty. Then he realized, they were still here. Crap.

Harry was staring at the goblin wide-eyed as he continued his rather long spiel of harsh guttural threats and shrieks. When the goblin stopped to take a breath, Sirius showed his inner Gryffindor when he asked the extremely angry goblin what had him so upset.

ToothRot looked at Sirius with what Harry judged to be an incredulous expression, but just shook his head, stood up from his desk, and grabbed one of the swords that Harry had thought was for decoration. Though they both flinched a bit, they relaxed when a stone in a surprising likeness of Albus Dumbledore appeared in front of the Goblin, who then proceeded to behead the figure before cutting through the body from top to bottom. Both Godfather and Godson blanched, feeling the slightest bit sorry for Dumbledore if the goblin managed to get a hold of him. _At least he took out his anger on the statue. _Sirius thought with relief, and looked back to the parchment.

Thankfully, there weren't any more loyalty or compulsion charms on Harry. So they read on. The list continued on to Harry's vaults and holdings, and to say he was surprised at what he had was an understatement. He was heir to both the Emrys and Gryffindor Vaults, as well as the Potter vaults, which were filled with millions of galleons on their own. The Gryffindor and Emrys Vaults, though ancient, were filled with books and weapons more than they were filled with gold, but some of them were extremely rare, so it evened out a bit. It was after the vaults where they found what had caused the goblin's angry outburst.

When they saw the name Albus Dumbledore, they knew that it couldn't be good. And they were right. As Harry's magical guardian, Dumbledore had arranged for monthly deposits to both the Weasleys and the Dursleys, as well as his own by comparison, meagre vaults. Hundreds of thousands of Galleons had been stoled from Harry, and worst of all, as Albus had been his legal guardian, there was no way to get back the funds.

Even worse than that was that when looking at properties, most had been sold during the first war, by Harry's parents, as a way to fund something called the Order of the Phoenix, and those that hadn't been sold were those like Potter Manor(which had been destroyed at the same time as his Grandparents' death) and Godric's Hollow. Harry literally had no home to his name.

Looking further, they noticed a note that said Dumbledore had tried to remove certain Potter family Heirlooms, but had not been successful, as only members of the family could move them. That was something to be thankful for at least, even if it was upsetting at the gall the headmaster had to steal from an orphan.

Harry hadn't noticed, but as he had been reading, his anger began to feed his magic, making several objects in the office start twitching. When he got to the part about Dumbledore trying to steal family Heirlooms, his magic exploded outward, ensnaring the desk and everything within a few meters of him. Nearly every artifact and object in the room began to levitate and shake, including Sirius and ToothRot as his fists clenched and his breath grew fast and shallow.

Sirius, though awed at the power his godson was displaying, was not very comfortable floating like this, and so proceeded to pick up his wand and spray Harry with water to stop the outburst. It worked too well.

Almost immediately, everything that had been lifted from the ground had dropped back down with a thunderous crash. Sirius gingerly rubbed his backside. It had not been pleasant to land on it from that height.

Harry, after coming back to himself, looked horrified at what he had done. When he glanced at the goblin, he was even more terrified. The goblin was smiling! Actually smiling! Goblins smiled less than Snape, and that was impressive in of itself. What the hell had he done to make a goblin smile?

He looked at ToothRot nervously, and his unspoken question was answered.

"It has been a long time since a human wizard has done that to my office, and never so spectacularly Mr. Potter." The goblin glanced at the broken tables and pottery, then clapped his hands twice. Within seconds, everything went to where it had once been before, never showing any sign of being damaged.

Harry blinked, then rubbed his eyes, looking back at the goblin, then the room, then the goblin again.

"Huh" was his very intelligent and articulate statement of surprise.

Sirius, who had also been very surprised by the goblin's show of wandless magic, rolled his eyes at his godson while deciding right then and there to make sure he _never_ gave the goblins an excuse to use their magic on him. It was obvious that they were much more powerful than wizards gave them credit.

ToothRot turned his attention back to the parchment, then said. "I apologize Mr. Potter, but there is nothing that we can do to reclaim the money that was stolen from you."

Harry just waved a hand in dismissal, it wasn't the goblins' fault.

"That being said, as you have had a change in your magical guardian, we can change who has access to your trust vault, and if you wish it, bar the _wizard_ responsible from entering Gringotts." Toothroot said with a nasty smirk. Though the bank could not remove contents from the vaults under their care due to the last goblin-wizard treaty, they could bar the individual that owned them if they had reason enough. It was an implied loophole, given that the treaty had never said anything against doing such a thing.

Sirius looked at the Goblin with a mixture of admiration and horror. If what Toothrot was saying was true, the Goblins could simply close up the bank and by doing so, crash Britain's economy. Goblins were more than well known for their wards, many of which were copied _and improved _from those of the tombs of ancient egyptian wizards. And those wards were the stuff of nightmares. Curse breaking was a terrifyingly dangerous job, especially when it involved those wards, and with their knowledge of metals and structures, the goblins could turn the Bank into an impenetrable fortress if they wanted to. Their reputation had been daunting enough without wanting to keep everyone out. If they wished to do so, Sirius doubted that anything short of an entire reserve of dragons would be able to get into the bank, and even then, it was iffy.

Harry didn't seem to be thinking about that though, given by his vindictive expression. Sirius could understand his reasons for wanting Dumbledore to loose access to his money, but he was worried that somehow, this move could backfire spectacularly, something he would never have thought of before his time in Azkaban.

After Harry gave an affirmative, the goblin continued onto other matters.

ToothRot placed the enchanted parchment back on the desk. "I assume that you want to have only yourself placed on the vaults for access?"

Harry thought for a moment, then shook his head and said "Add Sirius Black to my vaults, and Remus Lupin?- Here he looked at Sirius for confirmation, who nodded, though reluctantly- as well."

The goblin nodded, then drew his finger over the names Albus Dumbledore and Molly Weasley. They vanished, just as the name Sirius Black and Remus Lupin took their place.

The goblin looked back up. "Is there anything else Mr. Potter, Mr. Black?"

Sirius responded before Harry could. "What did the parchment mean, when it said my godson had an unknown creature inheritance, and who the hell is Tom Riddle, and what the HELL is HIS soul fragment DOING in MY godson?"

The goblin took Sirius' anger in stride, and answered. "An unknown inheritance is unheard of in Gringotts, as we have kept records since our founding, which coincidentally, is very close to the founding of Hogwarts. This means that the creature inheritance was not recorded at the time, which also means that it is quite likely that Mr. Potter is the only of his kind. Even more interesting, (here he looked back at the family tree for a moment) is that even though you are descended from Godric Gryffindor, who by the way was Merlin's son, your inheritance actually came from Merlin's father: Arcturus of Emrys, who is not in our records, but can still be seen with the magic of the family tree. However, if you look at his name, (here the goblin ran his finger over the name, which they noticed was green) he also has an unknown inheritance, possibly the same one as your own."

Harry collapsed back into his chair. Only he would have a creature inheritance that hadn't been seen for over a thousand years. The goblin didn't give him a chance to think about it though, as he quickly moved on to Sirius' other question.

"Now, a soul fragment is as its name suggests, a piece of someone's soul, also known as a horcrux." At that statement, Sirius nearly jumped out of his chair.

"You can get rid of it can't you?" He asked frantically, the thought of his godson being possessed by another's soul terrified him. There were many books in the black library, and though he hadn't read much, he did remember one that mentioned Horcruxes, and he had nightmares for weeks after reading it.

"It is but a minor ritual, one that has been used thousands of times for the exorcism of dangerous objects that our curse-breakers have encountered in Egypt. However, I would recommend you wait…"

"Don't you fucking dare tell me to wait! My godson has someone else's soul in his body! We need to get it out…." Sirius quailed under the scathing look that the goblin was giving him. After a moment, the goblin spoke again.

"As I was saying, it would be better to wait until Mr. Potter has his inheritance, just in case the removal of the soul-piece would interfere with it." The goblin looked at the parchment again, examining Harry's name. "And judging by the coloration, I would say that the inheritance will most likely be on his next birthday, in less than two months."

Sirius still looked very unhappy at the idea of leaving someone's soul in Harry. He heard his godson sob suddenly, then turned to him to see the look of horror and anguish on his face. "Its alright pup, we can get rid of it soon enough."

Harry's eyes swung back to Sirius, but he shook his head, mumbling under his breath.

"What was that Harry?"

Harry took in a deep shuddering breath, then whispered. "Tom Marvolo Riddle is Lord Voldemort."

It took a great deal longer for Sirius to calm down after that little fact was mentioned, but eventually ToothRot got tired of listening to him, silenced him, and stuck him to the wall, right under one of the ridiculously sharp 'ceremonial' swords. After that, he left the room with Harry, to have the block on his mental abilities, as well as the loyalty charms; removed, which was a quick and painful procedure that lasted nearly a minute. Harry was given an examination after that by a goblin healer, who upon seeing the results of the scan, went into a black-tinged rage much like the one Harry had seen in ToothRot's office.

After the goblin(who Harry thought was female, but did not dare to ask) assigned Harry a regiment of Nutrition and Skele-grow potions that would strengthen his body and bones to what would be normal for his age. Sirius, who had finally calmed himself down (mostly because of the _very _sharp sword hanging above him), had also been given an examination, and his own regimen of potions to help him deal with the damage done by Azkaban.

After that, they had returned to ToothRot's office, where Sirius had expressed an interest in looking for a good property for him and Harry to live in, as well as Remus Lupin. When Harry had asked why Lupin was coming with them (not that he minded, but he was curious) Sirius had blushed and changed the subject. Harry filed this away for later, or rather, his new memory did it for him. The goblin healer had recommended rather strongly (threatened him with bodily harm if he did not do it) that Harry learn something called Occlumency to help deal with the enormous amount of information that would be flooding his mind day after day.

After returning to look at properties, Sirius had eventually chosen the home in Bermuda; telling Harry that there was no way he was sending him back to Hogwarts after everything they had found out, with which Harry agreed completely. The only things that had been tying him to that school were his friends and not having to be at the Dursleys year round. With his friends lying to him, and Sirius becoming his guardian, he had no reason to stay.

Harry knew Bermuda was somewhere in Central America, but that was all he really knew, thanks to the lack of geography classes at Hogwarts. He as all for going though, telling Sirius that he would love to see the beach for the first time. Sirius had been quite angry at hearing that, but did not let Harry see his anger. Instead, he contemplated several subtle and not so subtle pranks and plots against Petunia and Vernon Dursley, one of which included buying whatever company Vernon worked at and promptly demoting him to the lowest possible position that he could find.

While he was contemplating all this, Harry had asked about a way for the both of them to access both wizarding and muggle money at all times, linked to their vaults. ToothRot had smiled again, and said that thanks to the influx of muggleborns over the years, Gringotts had created a debit card nearly identical to a muggle debit card, which took the appropriate amount right out of the vault and changed it into the appropriate currency. Of course, there was also the ministry fee on converting wizarding to muggle money, and that was taken from the vault was well.

By then, Sirius had come out of his plot-ways-to-utterly-humiliate-and-destroy-Dursleys trance, and had jumped on the idea, signing up the both of them for the service. After that, they asked ToothRot for an international Portkey that would set off tomorrow. Harry looked rather wary at the prospect of using the thing, his experience(though limited) with the floo telling him that he probably would not enjoy this method of travel.

The last thing that they did was go back into Diagon Alley, first to the Magical Menagerie, where Harry found a rare but beautiful African Dragonsnake, whose scales alternated between metallic green and purple as the sunlight reflected off of them. The interesting thing was, that unlike its cousins (coatls) the wings could simply fold to the back and disappear, and had scales over the membranes instead of feathers. The snake was also quite venomous, but Harry had already talked to her and told her not to bite anyone unless he specifically told her to do so. He promised her a rat for the next time she was hungry, as she had already eaten, and also promised her that he would name her, but that he wanted to find something that was perfect for her before he did.

Hedwig, who had been following them through the Alley, seemed to be giving the snake a death glare. Her talons were digging into Harry's arm a bit harshly, but other than that, she wasn't doing anything to provoke the snake, for which Harry was thankful.

After getting Harry his new familiar (which Sirius had disapproved of but allowed under his godson's puppy eyes) the both of them had gone to buy magical trunks, then to the potions shop to buy the nutrition potions necessary, all under stasis charms. Harry had hidden his scar under his hair, making sure not to reveal it so that the man didn't start screaming that the boy who lived was in his shop and attract a mob.

Finally done with their shopping, Harry and Sirius went back to the cauldron to have dinner in their rooms (not wanting to deal with the stares of those eating there) and fell asleep after packing the trunks.

At 8:00 the next morning, the both of them grabbed their trunks, Hedwig, and the as of yet unnamed Dragon-snake then touched the portkey and disappeared in a vortex of light and sound.

Authors Note:

Ok, several things I want to talk about:

I know that the credit/debit card for Gringotts idea has been used a lot, but it makes sense. Really, if something was a thousand galleons, would the wizard or witch have to count out 1000 galleons? I don't know about you, but that just sounds time consuming and tedious, not to mention the fact that wizards are usually kinda lazy when it comes to this sort of thing. And yes they could use bank drafts, but come on, the wizards are extremely lazy, they don't do anything that they don't want to waste time with, so why would they waste time with bank drafts when they can just present the card and go on their merry way?

I know there are going to be people mad at me for taking Harry out of Hogwarts, but it makes sense. Harry has already had his life threatened no less than five times when staying there, and that along with the loyalty charms, and Dumbledore and the Weasleys stealing from him makes it a very bad idea for Harry to go back there.

As for how will Harry meet Cedric? All I will say on this is that this is a divergent GoF fic.

I can't shake the feeling that I'm taking the Harry is cute thing a bit too far, (shrugs) but I'm going to stick with it anyway.

Also, when I mentioned that I wouldn't make Harry the really delicate kind of submissive, I was talking about later. As of right now, he has been starved for most of his life, so he's not going to be extremely healthy. He will get better later, however.

I did make up the type of snake, but because I wanted it to fit with the story. If that doesn't make any sense, look at the prologue and what forms Drackens can take.

edit 3/7/2013

there were a few changes to this chapter, but I think that those changes will play a large part in how this story advances compared to the last version, hope you guys like it better this way.


	4. Chapt 3 Somewhat normal day in the life

Ch3: A normal day in the new life, well, Somewhat normal

July 30 1994

Harry was in the library of his mind.

When he had been told (threatened) to master Occlumency, he had been somewhat…reluctant. The prospect of organizing his mind was daunting at best (especially due to the bad memories he had from the Dursleys), and if it hadn't been for the headaches that came from absorbing an absurd amount of information each day, Harry would have gladly disregarded the Goblin Healer's threat. After all, he was in Bermuda now, there was no way the goblin healer was going to come and check up on him. Right?

Speaking of Healers. Harry made a mental grimace. Those nutrition and skele-gro potions were awful. No…awful wasn't even close to how vulgar and gut-wrenching those horrible things tasted. His only consolation was that he wasn't the only one that had to take them. He had expected after taking them every day that he would become immune to the taste, but unfortunately for him, that wasn't true. Even worse was the fact that whenever they were mentioned, his mind had the annoying habit of recalling _exactly_ what they tasted like. It was enough to make him almost heave, and even worse, Sirius had found it somewhat amusing, saying the words quite often.

Of course, that could have been a way for Sirius to retaliate for past pranks against his person. It had actually been Harry that had started off the prank war, as retaliation for the horrifying ordeal in Madam Malkin's shop. Smiling to himself, Harry touched the numerical rune on the bookshelf that signified last month, then as the rune expanded into a calendar, he focused what he was looking for and touched the rune for that day, immersing himself in the memory.

FlashBack

That was it! Harry was sick and tired of the 'breakfasts' that Sirius had been cooking up. He loved the man, he really did, but after six days of burnt toast and scalding tea, he had had enough.

Dobby had also been horrified by the 'meals' that Sirius had provided. But as the head of the household (which included Harry, Sirius, Remus, and Dobby) Sirius had forbidden Dobby to cook breakfasts, saying that he needed to practice, and that he wanted to make something his family could enjoy.

Harry smiled at the glowing feeling that word now evoked in him. Before he had met Sirius, he had no concept of family, besides the Weasels. Even then he had found himself to be an outsider, not a true part of the family. When it turned out that the Weasels had been using him for his money, he had a delayed breakdown. Sirius, despite acting like an immature kid all the time, had been there for him, holding him close at night, even letting him sleep in his bed. At least, he slept in the bed until Remus came along. Then he got the room across from them, so that they were still close if he needed comfort.

When Harry had first found out about their relationship, his first thought was _I knew it!_ The glances they had given each other in the Shrieking Shack had not been subtle at all. They had practically looked like they were devouring each other with their eyes! Harry blushed at that. It had been a bit disturbing at the time, but Harry was glad for them. They both deserved to have some love in their lives after all they had suffered.

The fact that Harry was considered part of that family had been a foreign concept, but the love they showed him quickly swept away any doubts that he had about how much they cared for him. Though he had been quite clingy to Sirius in the beginning, he had eventually loosened up over the past six weeks. That didn't mean that he would turn down a chance to cuddle; he enjoyed the feeling of safety and love too much to stop doing it anytime soon.

Harry went back to watching the memory, watching from a first person point of view as he placed a silencing spell over the hair-spray-cans his past self was using, as well as himself. One thing that Sirius took great pride in was his appearance, especially his hair, which made this revenge(for the crazy girl at Madam Malkin's) even sweeter.

He remembered just in time to place a scent obscuring charm on Remus's nose, so he wouldn't wake up at the spray in the air. He then lightly stunned his godfather, making sure he wouldn't wake up for at least a few minutes, and began to use gel to shape his hair into an afro. After that, he added several stripes of colored hairspray to his godfather's normally black hair, so that he looked like a clown. He then used paint spells layered over the hair as well, to make it look as if the new hairstyle was caused by magic only.

Finally, as an evil touch, he added a potion to his godfather's hair that would ensure that when he put his hands in his hair, they would be stuck, thus preventing him from making breakfast until Harry released him.

Harry made sure to clean up every trace of the muggle hair-spray in the air, and quickly left the room, waiting in the hallway by the kitchen. After he waited for a good half-hour, Sirius came down the stairs, humming some old Beatles song. Sirius had the strangest choices in music. Harry mused, but quickly put his attention back on his godfather, who was just passing the mirror in the entrance hall…and there it was.

Sirius passed the mirror, and seeing a flash of color, he frowned, looking at the dark brown door and blue-white walls of the entrance hall. He had been certain that he had seen something. When he looked back in the mirror, he shrieked like a little girl.

Harry had thankfully had the foresight to silence himself, and he was glad he did. Sirius shrieking like a little girl was just too amusing to not burst out laughing. He had based the look off of Muggle clowns, and it was perfect! Well, except for the nose, but…hmmm, prank with Sirius having Snape's nose….that had potential.

Harry of the past was so distracted by thoughts of turning Sirius into a Snape look-alike that he missed the first half-dozen _finite_s that his godfather had sent at his hair. Now that he was paying attention (the memory allowed him to experience his thoughts at the time) to what Sirius was doing, he saw his godfather freak out after not seeing the hair go back to normal, sending the other _finite_s in a panic. When his hands became stuck in his hair, Harry doubled over again, watching him as he tried to remove his hands from his hair, rather unsuccessfully.

He watched as his godfather gave up, running up the stairs(as best as he could) to get Remus to dispel the prank. Harry was eventually called up, and actually made his surprise at Sirius' new look seem real before he burst out laughing.

It had taken a while, with Harry dodging around the questions of what he had actually done to his godfather, but Remus had eventually figured out that Harry had used muggle hair spray, sniffing his lover's hair to make sure (the scent obscuring charm had been a bit overpowered by Harry) and telling Harry to remove it. Harry finally gave in, and sprayed his godfather in the face with water, vanishing the spray as it washed down his godfather's face and after some coaxing, dumping the counter-potion on Sirius' head so that he could free his hands.

Just after that, he called for Dobby, who brought up breakfast, under Harry's orders. Dobby had come to stay with them once Harry invited him, and tended to listen to Harry more than Sirius. So when Sirius had been distracted by the prank, he had taken advantage of it to make a good breakfast.

Sirius was looking between Harry, the breakfast, and Harry again, then shook his head and asked if his breakfasts were really that bad.

Without pause, both Remus and Harry said "Yes." Harry though didn't stop there.

"It was also payback for leaving me with the robe demons when you went to get your wand two weeks ago."

Remus looked at Sirius with a raised eyebrow, while Sirius looked down a bit sheepishly. Remus rolled his eyes. His expression suggesting that he would find out later.

Sirius, still smarting a bit over being tricked so easily by Harry, refocused on his godson before conjuring a carrot. He took a bite out of it, before saying "Of course you know, this means war." 1

Harry, with that disturbingly gleeful look that spoke of horror and mental damage simply said. "Bring it on."

End Flashback

Harry came out of the memory, shaking his head at the repercussions of that day. He and Sirius had waged a prank war that Remus barely kept himself out of. Most of Harry's pranks were focused on messing with Sirius' appearance, though the leather pants prank had backfired spectacularly when Remus nearly jumped Sirius; while Harry was still in the room!

Harry's favorite target was Sirius' hair. Changing its color, style, and once even making it all seem to have disappeared, including his eyebrows. That one had been the most amusing, because they had gone out that day, and Sirius, who could still feel his hair (the potion only made the hair invisible) hadn't noticed until he got fed up with the surrounding villagers sniggering at him for no apparent reason. He conjured a mirror, only to look in horror at his face, before chasing after his godson through the streets, hitting him with several pranking jinxes while the rest of the town watched on in amusement.

The magical population of Bermuda followed the ratio of wizards to muggles world wide, about 1 wizard for every 100 muggles. They were oddly accepting, and a very lenient government. As they were the only magical settlement in Bermuda, they were their own government, not answering to the muggle government at all. The best part of them being their own government was that unlike muggle Bermuda, which was considered a British territory, Magical Bermuda wanted nothing to do with the Ministry of Magic, and was quite friendly with the American department of Magic. If the inbred idiots in the MoM tried anything to get at Harry and his family, not only would they have to face the wrath of the Villagers (who would actually fight back against any invaders, unlike the British who would just run away) but also the Americans, who were only a floo call away. The fact that the village had an extensive set of wards that included everything from muggle-repelling to anti-apparition, and that only those that actually registered with the town government could be keyed in made it a nuisance for anyone trying to abduct one of the villagers.

Harry shook his head at the woolgathering before tapping the rune again to close the month had chosen. His Occlumency was based more on misdirection than anything else. Each room in the house was filled with objects that looked as if they could hold his memories, and they all had ferocious guardians. The Bathrooms were crawling with snakes, the bedrooms with spiders and webs, the kitchen and dining areas with a veritable army of house elves, the attic and owlry were of course, filled with owls. All of these defenses relied on overwhelming the intruder with biting, buffeting, or terrifying the invader out of his mind.

The library, even as a logical place for his memories, really didn't seem to have any defenses. It was filled with books, which to an intruder might seem like memories, but were actually complete copies of all sorts of muggle stories and non-fiction books he had read in some of his spare time. He made sure that there were dozens of copies of each book of course.

The thing that had impressed his Occlumency teacher (who still refused to go anywhere the bedrooms of his mindscape when they were practicing repelling an invader) was that the books were just a misleading distraction, and that the intricate carvings that seemed to fill the bookshelves were actually Harry's system of recalling and organizing his memories. The best part of the runes that he used was that they were virtually unknown in the European Wizarding world, being created by ancient tribes of native american shamans and healers.

But the most entertaining part of the library was the fact that while it looked completely harmless, if someone so much as tried to do anything violent to one of the books, their mental avatar would be burned and shocked harshly while the floor under them turned to quicksand. From there, the bookshelves would disappear, and the ceiling would come down to crush the invading mind. If that still didn't work, they would be launched out of the library and out of the house, only to have to brave the defenses again. And because the only way to the library was through the kitchens, it would be painful for the invader to try again.

Harry quickly moved over to the shelf that signified the current month, creating a new entry and placing every second of his memories of the day before into storage. After he was done, he simply vanished from the library, and opened his eyes.

Working on his Occlumency was something of a morning ritual for Harry, shortly followed by his exercise regime, given to him by a brutal trainer that simply went by the name Hayes. The man had to be ex-military or something, but most definitely not from Britain. He was also Harry's dueling trainer, and most of those lessons resembled the old Harry hunting in that Harry was learning mostly how to dodge and not depend on shields, otherwise he would be hit by several very painful stinging hexes. The man had threatened to use bone breakers if Harry didn't shapen up, so the soon-to-be fourteen year old had learned very quickly how to dodge, not that it mattered because Hayes somehow managed to hit him most of the time.

The subject of tutors came up soon after arriving at Bermuda, when Harry had told Sirius the extent of his adventures at Hogwarts in the years before. Sirius had nearly collapsed the first several times that Harry mentioned he had almost died, but when he mentioned the Basilisk biting him, his godfather actually did keel over in a dead faint. Harry decided not to hold that over his head, it was a somewhat valid reason to do that.

After being enervated, Sirius had grabbed his godson in a fierce hug, while Harry patted his back awkwardly. After the moment had passed, Sirius had told him that he was going to get Harry tutors, especially for how to defend himself.

Harry had jumped on the idea. Now that he didn't have his former friends to hold him back (his face darkened for an instant) he could learn and perform anything he wanted to, without Hermione snipping at him and Ron trying to get him to play Quidditch. The first thing he had asked Sirius for was a tutor in Ancient runes. When he had been her friend, Hermione was constantly going on about the many things that runes could be used for. While Ron tried to shut her out, Harry had listened to every word, while trying not to look interested.

After getting a Runes tutor (A stern yet informative Native American woman named Aiyana) Harry had also expressed an interest in hand to hand fighting. Sirius had been opposed to this at first, saying that fighting was for muggles and not wizards, but he quickly quailed under the signs of an obvious 'Harry rant' and granted his request.

His tutor was a Chinese wizard that simply went by Shïfu. The man was rather unremarkable looking, something that Sirius (with his usual sense of tact) had commented on. The next moment, Sirius had been on his back, arms smarting painfully, with the man not even looking like he had moved. He did not comment on that again.

Shïfu was as merciless as Hayes, but in a different way. The man had been only the slightest bit impressed at Harry's ability to absorb knowledge, but because of it he had resolved to push Harry as hard as humanly possible, and then some. Thankfully for Harry, Hayes and Shïfu gave him his lessons on alternating days, otherwise he would have collapsed. Unluckily for him, a wizard's magic would help by taking the strain away and relaxing the muscles, which meant they could push him to a 'standard' for wizards that was far higher than that of a normal human.

One of the most impressive things that Shïfu had taught Harry was the ability to use his magic to increase his speed and reflexes, as well as deliver much more power in his strikes. As a demonstration, the man had chosen a middle-aged tree, then hit it with a simple combination of two punches and a roundhouse kick. Harry had been staring at him like he was insane, but the man had shown no pain from the strikes, even when his hands were bleeding slightly.

The man had then taken a deep breath, and Harry had sworn that his body had glowed for a moment. When he punched the tree again, the wood splintered, then toppled when the kick came to finish it off. Harry had been amazed, and had resolved to work as hard as he could to be able to learn how to do that.

Besides Runes and Physical exercises, Harry was also tutored by his two surrogate parents. Remus (who had arrived only a day after they did, thanks to Sirius) taught him History, Defense against the Dark arts(separate from dueling) and Potions. Sirius had taught Harry about transfiguration, charms, and quite surprisingly, herbology. When Harry had asked him about why he was so good at Herbology, he had merely mumbled something about plants not being able to slap you. Sirius had been quite the playboy when he was younger, before he had realized that Remus was his life-mate.

All of these subjects gave Harry little time for himself, or to spend with his two familiars. Thankfully, his dragonsnake (who he had named Adena) was fine with just hanging around his neck while he studied. She claimed it was because of how warm he was, but Harry bet she also did it to annoy Hedwig. His Snowy owl wasn't too fond of the dragonsnake, especially the fact that Adena could fly after her if she bothered her enough. Harry tried to spend his time with Hedwig outside, bringing his books on the deck of the house to study while using light sticking charms to make sure that the papers wouldn't be blown away. Hedwig would often perch on his shoulder, running his beak through his hair, which felt oddly comforting for some reason.

Harry made his way outside, where Hayes was waiting for him impatiently, jogging his place while taking deep breaths of the salty ocean air. After a curt nod, Harry began his stretches, making sure to focus a lot of attention on his legs, and then they were off, running through the sand. Hayes was older than Harry, and while he ran, he would send verbal barbs and threats to make Harry go faster. While initially the loudness of his voice and the threats he made had nearly sent Harry into flashbacks with the Dursleys, the way that the man made sure that he took care of himself had overridden the fear he associated with loud voices and threats.

After their run and cool-down stretches, Hayes transfigured a piece of driftwood into a pull-up bar, then nodded to Harry as he stood by to critique Harry's form, or more often than not, lack thereof. After that, was the push ups, sit ups, squats, and other types of stretches and workouts too numerous to mention. Hayes was quiet during this point, so Harry guessed that meant he was doing alright.

The nice thing about the exercise was that it allowed him to think about the things he was working on and what he wanted to get done. After seeing the effectiveness of martial arts combined with magic, Harry had realized how much of a hinderance that a wand would be in a fight like that. He had learned from Shïfu that several eastern wizarding cultures did not use wands, rather they used braces that they wore around their wrists. The braces were not as good for precision, which was one of the reasons that european wizards used wands, so they could point at a specific target and be certain of what they were aiming at.

Harry nearly lost his balance when the idea jumped into his head. Before Hayes could yell at him, he fixed it, but was now focusing on the idea at hand.

His main problem with wands was that they were cumbersome in a hand to hand fight, and were also fairly easy to break. Even though it was quite the taboo to snap another's wand, it was the most obvious way to incapacitate a western wizard.

The problem with having the braces was, as mentioned before, they were not good for precision attacks. That being said, many eastern wizards relied on both physical and magical fighting, so their battle magic was mostly based on area-effect attacks.

But if one were to combine the two, to have braces with a way to point…..To point. Harry looked at his pointer finger, not believing the answer was there all along. He kept his excitement from overcoming him until just after Hayes had led him through the final cooldown exercises, and had practically apparated back to the house to start looking up ways to have his idea work.

A few hours later, he was startled when Aiyana slammed a book on the table that he was working on. Harry was ashamed to admit that he jumped nearly a foot before looking at her in confusion, then horror when he realized he had been late for her lesson.

"Mr. Potter, will you tell why you did not come to your lesson?" she asked in her quiet, yet authoritative voice.

Harry was too excited by his new idea to feel too ashamed, but he apologized out of courtesy.

"I am sorry Lady Aiyana, but I finally thought of a solution to a problem that has been plaguing me since I began training with Shïfu, I mean I had this wonderful idea about how to combine the advantages of both wands and casting-braces that I had to get on right away and I didn't realize the time and.."

Harry was surprised when she began to chuckle quietly. He had never seen her laugh, even smiles were rare from her. A nod was usually what he got when he did well. So what had he done that was so amusing to her?

She must have noticed the irritation on his face because she waved her hand and said "It has been a long time since I have student who so focused on learning that forget about other lessons."

Harry flushed slightly under the praise. The first few times Sirius and Remus had complimented his work he had felt as if he would die of embarrassment. He didn't know why he felt that way, maybe he was so used to underperforming that he never thought someone would actually see his work as well done.

"Now, can you explain to me what has you so excited." she pierced him with a look before he could get all excited again.

Harry took a deep breath, then began to explain. "When I started to train with Shïfu, I noticed that my wand would get in the way of the fighting he has taught me. I asked him, and he showed me the braces that eastern wizards prefer, which are another way of focusing magic." He paused for breath, and saw the slightest bit of interest in her face, so he continued.

"The problem with the casting-bracelets is that they are not good for precision, the eastern cultures tend to use them to accent their strikes with large, powerful spells, but not spells with a specific target. They can be used for all the same things, but take more effort to focus the magic."

His teacher was looking at him with an expression that seemed to say "Get on with it."

Harry was worried that she would find his idea ridiculous, that she would laugh at him, but he forged ahead. " I was thinking of having a sort of gauntlet or metal glove that covered the whole hand, and would be able to focus the magic through the pointer and middle finger, so that I would be able to cast and and fight with my hands in the same motion."

He looked at her pensively, and saw a sad smile on her face. His face crumpled. He felt her hand on his chin, and was forced to look into her eyes when she spoke. "Do not be ashamed of your idea young Harry Potter. It has been tried many times already. That you thought of it now just shows you are a very intelligent student."

_Tried many times…?_ "What went wrong?" he asked her, glad that she didn't think he was an idiot, but confused as to what could have caused the idea to fail.

"Well, for one, only wandmakers truly know proper runes for focusing and amplifying magic coming from a Witch or Wizards core. They guard those secrets jealously." She paused to let him think about that for a moment before moving on.

"When a wandmaker tried, a Mr. Ollivander I think was his name" Harry's head shot up. Ollivander had tried and failed to make a gauntlet already? "He was able to make pathways for the core-magic, but the wand-cores he used were not right. They could not focus the magic, interfering with each other instead of working on casting." "He was closest, but even his experiments died after he burnt out too many cores."

Harry was quite disheartened at that, slumping in his seat. If Ollivander had given up after trying so hard, there was no way that he would be able to do it.

"Mr. Potter!" He jumped, looking back at her and was surprised to see anger on her face. "Do not put yourself down again!"

"I see in your eyes the shame and despair, but if you do not try to make it work then how will you know if you can do it or not?"

Harry was unsure what she meant. He wasn't a wandmaker, and actual texts on wandcraft were rare and few in-between. How would he even know the proper runes to make it work?

"Now Mr. Potter….Mr. Potter!" He focused his attention back on her. "Would you be interested in making the metal glove at least?"

Harry, forgetting his depression for now, summoned his muggle notebook and pen, waiting for her to begin.

"Now, to make the metal bend, first you must use the runes to depict the metal's qualities….

After his Runes lesson, Harry gave Aiyana a thankful nod, glad to have at least one step of making his gauntlets in his mind.

To make the metal move as if liquid, the runes needed to focus on altering the properties of density and strength in the metal, as well as (obviously) flexibility. It was complicated, because every detail of what needed to be done had to be inscribed on the gauntlets themselves, which meant runes for multiple possibilities that had to be resolved. If Harry knew about how computer programming worked, he would say that it was very similar, only that character-symbols were used instead of long commands.

As he continued to muse on what he had learned, he heard the distinct heavy wingbeats of his dragon snake and turned around to look for her. She came down the hallway, landing on his shoulder and folding her wings back into her body in one smooth motion, then curling around him to not fall off. It was something that never ceased to amaze him, how she could just make her wings appear and disappear at will. He briefly wondered if it was possible to do the same with the gauntlets, if he ever got them to work.

_Good morning master Harry, did you enjoy your lesson with the dark-skin-willow-woman?_ She hissed at him.

Harry shook his head. No matter how many times he tried to teach her differently, Adena would insist on giving people names based off of their personal appearance. Sirius, for example, was light-skin-man-peacock. Harry had no idea how his snake knew about the euphemism for someone that was vain, but sometimes he couldn't help but agree with the description.

_It was alright, she gave me help on one of my new ideas._ He hissed back.

_What new idea? You have a new idea every moment Snake-child._She sounded amused, nearly laughing at him.

While Harry did admit to himself that he was constantly coming up with new ideas, he wasn't nearly as bad as his second familiar was suggesting.

_For your information it is an idea I have had since the beginning of the summer._He retorted with a haughty sniff.

Adena simply burst into those short quiet hisses that Harry had learned to interpret as laughter. He rolled his eyes and said something he knew would shut her up.

_So how is your new boyfriend Adena? I have not seen him for a long time."_

Adena stopped hissing immediately, her eyes seemed to narrow and her coils tightened around Harry's body.

_I have told that stupid hatchling that I have NO INTEREST in mating with him! But he does not listen! He just keeps on asking me if I will mate with him as if he expects me to do it if he bothers me enough! I have told him so many times that I AM NOT INTERESTED and he just…._

Harry tuned her out after a while. He had definitely given his snake a proper name. Fire indeed. If she had the capability to breath fire like her species' namesake, she would have by now. Oddly enough, he had named her for the metallic scales that seemed to shimmer like flames under the sunlight, but it turned out that it suited her personality near perfectly.

She was still hissing angrily about all the different things that the young constrictor had been doing to get her attention when Harry sat down at the table for lunch. He frowned. His godfathers should have been down here by now.

"Dobby?"

The elf popped in almost immediately.

"Yes Master Harry Potter Sir?"

Harry mentally sighed. No matter how many times he told Dobby to just call him Harry, he insisted on Master as a title.

"Could you please go see where Sirius and Remus are? I was hoping to have lunch with them to tell them about a new idea I had."

Dobby nodded and popped away. And returned almost instantly, looking a bit…off.

"Are they coming Dobby?"

The house-elf shook his head, lips firmly pressed together as if he was not allowing himself to speak.

He got up, ready to go hex them, and Dobby immediately popped in front of him.

"No Master Harry Potter Sir, yous not wanting to go up there!" He exclaimed, tugging on his ears.

"Why not Dobby?" Harry asked, genuinely curious at why Dobby was so against him going up. .

"Because the masters be having a good time with each other, and you is not wanting to see that!." The house-elf blurted out then popped away. In what Harry guessed was the kitchen, he heard the sounds of Dobby banging a few pots against the stove as he began to cook, a little more forcefully than necessary.

"Having a good time with each…." "Oh!" Harry blushed hotly. He did not need to know that his guardians were doing _that_. Immediately the one time he had walked into them doing it popped into his mind, and he suppressed the memory as fast as he could, shuddering at the feeling of embarrassment that had come over him then. Sirius hadn't let it go for weeks, making lewd jokes whenever he was out of Remus' hearing range.

He felt a surge of the memory-emotions and growled in frustration as he pushed them down again. With all of the advantages of eidetic memory, one of the greatest disadvantages for him was that he could remember every embarrassing moment perfectly, even with the emotions. This was also tied into when he viewed the memories in his mind, but unfortunately for him, his memory would often trigger at the mention of a word or phrase that he strongly associated with an event. The one saving grace of this was that he could only remember things that well after the the blocks on his mind removed, so he wouldn't remember the horrible years at the Dursleys.

Dobby popped in with seasoned atlantic cod and mixed vegetables, then popped out again, presumably to go find something else to do. Harry sighed and shook his head. He had given up on trying to get Dobby to sit with him at mealtimes, the elf felt it was unproper, and if he felt that way, there was little Harry could do to change his mind.

Having nothing else to do, he summoned his notebook, Adena having curled up around his neck and snoozing lightly, and began to write down what he knew, what he had to learn, and what he wanted to accomplish. He took bites of his food sparingly, so focused on his task that when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he jumped.

Adena hissed at Sirius, who had been amused at his godson's reaction until said godson's pet snake looked like it wanted to bite him. Harry glared at Sirius, then saw the clock behind him.

"Merlin, It took you two hours to finish?" He asked. Then his eyes widened in horror at what he had just said.

Remus, who had just walked into the room, choked slightly, turning red, while Sirius looked unrepentant and said "And I enjoyed every moment of it!" rather cheekily.

Harry shuddered at the mention of it. _Numerical forms in ogham…come on Harry don't think about your godfathers having sex…No! Don't even think about the word, about them together, come on imagination, think of something else please?_

Remus smacked Sirius on the back of the head before tapping Harry on the nose. Harry gratefully focused his attention on him and left the mental images behind.

Remus was looking at the lists a bit oddly, while Harry discreetly silenced Sirius before he could begin describing exactly what they had been doing. He said it was educational. Harry said it was mentally scarring.

"Harry, what is this?" Remus asked, before looking at a silently ranting Sirius who had unfortunately (for him) not learned how to use non-verbal spells.

"Oh that? Um…how to explain?…Remember when Shïfu showed the casting bracers that they use in some of the eastern wizarding cultures?" Harry briefly noticed that Adena was slithering off, but quickly turned his attention back on his guardians.

"Yeah?" Sirius, who had finally been un-silenced said slowly.

"I was thinking of making myself something similar, but better." Harry explained. "Think of a glove, or gauntlet made of metal, that was used as a focus instead."

"But why use that when you have a wand?" Sirius asked, looking genuinely confused as to why someone would want to forsake their wand for something else.

Harry, in his best lecturing voice, began. "Siri, what is the one way to completely incapacitate a wizard or witch from fighting?"

"To kill him." Sirius nodded, then added as an afterthought "or her."

Harry slapped his hand to his forehead.

"_Without_ killing them Sirius." he stressed, as if he were talking to a small child.

"You snap their wands?" Remus ventured.

Harry nodded and smiled at Remus.

"And just how easy is it to snap that wand?" He asked, towards Remus this time.

"Too easy." Remus replied, seeing where his pseudo-godson was going with this.

"Exactly; not to mention the fact that if you are holding a wand, it is also much harder to try and punch someone."

"But why would you need to punch someone Harry, you have a wand to fight." Sirius looked horrified at the thought of using fists in a magical fight.

"Remus, if you would?"

Remus promptly smacked his life-mate upside the head.

"Thank you. As I was saying, to truly be able to fight, not _duel _Sirius, there is a difference, you need to be able to move quickly and attack even more quickly. It would be a bit faster to cast with a wand, yes. But even so, being able to cast magic and then knock someone out with a physical strike is much more effective than just using magic."

Sirius looked like he was going to argue again, but Harry sent him a glare (not frightening but effective for once) and asked Remus if they were going to be doing anything that day, changing the subject. Just as he asked, an owl bearing the Gringotts seal made its way into the kitchen.

"Well hello there little guy." Harry cooed, offering a bit of the now-cold fish to the owl, who hooted gratefully. Remus untied the letter from the owl's leg, and Harry was shocked to see the anger twisting his face. Remus was _never _angry.

"What is it Remus?" Harry asked.

"Outside." Remus growled out, then abruptly stood and left the table, letter clenched in his hand.

Sirius raised his eyebrows. The only reason Remus would want them outside was in case Harry's magic went mental. He walked out after his life-mate, leaving Harry to banish his notebook back to his room, and then follow them outside.

"Here." Remus said, once they were a respectable distance away from the house.

Harry cautiously smoothed out the letter, then began to read.

_Forwarded from Gringotts London:_

_Dear Mr. Potter and Guardians,_

_This letter was sent to inquire about a marriage contract to Ginerva Weasley that was recently discovered in one of the Potter vaults. As the Weasley family had been caught stealing from your trust vault, we wished to know if this was a willing action, even though your magical signature has been found on the marriage contract, we wanted to make sure that this is what you truly wished to do, especially given your inheritance is tonight. Please let me know as soon as possible. Send the letter back to the Gringotts Branch in Bermuda, and it will be instantly forwarded to me in London._

_May your vaults be ever filled with Gold,_

_ToothRot, Potter family manager._

Harry saw red. He sure as hell did not sign a marriage contract! He would remember doing such a thing. And he would never have had the contract made to Ginny Weasley off all people! She was nearly stalking him through the castle during third year! There was no way he wanted to get married to her.

Then he realized when he must have signed the contract. He had been called up to Dumbledore's office, and he remembered talking to Dumbledore about how his school year had been going. But when he had gone over the memory in his Occlumency, he had noticed something that just didn't feel right, like something was missing.

The letter burst into flame, causing both Remus and Sirius to jump away. Then another wave of anger and frustration grew within him. Dumbledore had forced him to sign the Contract, and then obliviated him! HOW DARE HE DECIDE WHO HARRY WAS TO BE WED TO!

With a scream of rage, fire materialized in the air around him. Remus, thinking quickly, grabbed Sirius and quickly threw up a powerful protego, Sirius casting a protego orbis once he realized what Remus was doing.

With a roar, the fire flew away from Harry, the heat coming though both of the shields. Thankfully, Sirius and Remus were safe under the shield. The sand was not as fortunate.

Harry was standing, panting harshly at the amount of energy he had just lost. How could Dumbledore do this? How could he force him to marry Ginny Weasley? Then he realized. It was for the same reason as before. His money and fame.

Harry heard a cracking sound, and looking around, was shocked to see a circle of a glossy substance surrounding him where once there was only sand. He saw his godfathers under a shield, and gave a sheepish look at Remus, who looked a bit pink, as if he had been laying in the sun all day.

Remus dropped the shield, then cast a cooling charm on the heated sand, his eyebrow raising when it didn't seem to have any effect. Harry cast it again, as he had much more raw power than his godfathers, and was able to cool the glass until it was somewhat warm to the touch. He staggered a bit after that, his body felt exhausted and his arms like lead.

Remus gingerly made his way across the cooling glass, grabbing Harry to support him.

Sirius spoke first. "So I guess by your reaction that you didn't sign the contract?"

Harry shook his head tiredly. "I remember going to Dumbledore's office for a talk, but the memory feels strange, like something is missing."

"HE OBLIVIATED YOU?" Sirius nearly screamed.

Harry nodded, too tired to reply. He found himself sagging against Remus, who gently picked him up in his arms. Harry, though he had been gaining muscle and a slight bit of height, was still the size of an average eleven year old.

"Don't worry cub, we'll fix this." He said softly, brushing back the hair covering Harry's forehead.

Harry nodded sleepily and felt his grip on consciousness slipping. He let himself fall into sleep, safe in his pseudo-godfather's arms.

Remus made his way inside and up the stairs, placing his cub on his bed and tucking him in. He frowned at the amount of cooling charms his cub had used in his room, but left them alone for now, going back downstairs.

He found Sirius on the kitchen table, the meals having disappeared. His mate was simmering with anger, his hands clenching as if he wanted to strangle someone. Remus echoed the sentiment, but he had more important things to do at the moment.

Remus began to write a letter to ToothRot, telling him that Harry did not remember even signing the contract, and that he wished to have it voided. Thankfully, Sirius, as Harry's guardian, could void it in place of Harry, so they wouldn't have to worry about him being forced into a contract. Now more than ever was he glad that Harry was no longer attending Hogwarts, if this was what had happened while he was there.

Authors Note:

1: Bug's bunny's catchphrase. I know people are going to be confused as to how they know about bugs bunny, so I'm just going to say it here that the americans, unlike the British, were able to make things work around magic, and that Sirius, being a prankster at heart, really enjoys watching loony tunes whenever they all sit together during the nights to watch TV. I know I didn't mention a TV in this chapter, but it is there.

Whew! I am so glad that chapter is over. I wasn't very happy about how much happened in the chapter, but I felt like the story would get boring if I put in too much detail, so I decided to just put the things that will be really important later, especially the gauntlets and Harry's love of runes.

And I know that the gauntlets sound kind of like something out of Iron man, that wasn't my intention. I just wanted a focus for Harry that allowed him to use the martial arts taught to him by Shïfu, and to be able to cast precision spells like he could with his wand.

Next chapter is Harry's inheritance, and maybe Atlantis. Until then, I hope you are enjoying the story.

**Looked over and edited 3/13/13**

**After trying to rewrite this chapter, I realized that there was nothing really wrong with it, so I left it alone for the most part, only fixing a few grammatical errors and stuff like that. There was one minor change to the storyline, I'll post the revised edition of the fourth chapter somewhat soon.**


	5. Chapt 4 Inheritances and lost cities

**Ch4: Inheritances and lost cities**

**July 31, 1994**

Early morning, Undisclosed location in Scotland

Dumbledore was furious. There was no other word for it. After learning that Harry had been adopted by Black before he had even had a chance to convince him otherwise, he had been in a bad mood. Years of plotting and scheming washed down the drain just with that one action that should have never happened. Hell, Sirius shouldn't have even been able to escape from Azkaban, that was something that had come out of nowhere. He knew full well that Sirius had not been the secret keeper on that tragic (for the Potters) day, but he had not seen any reason to claim the man was innocent when it would be far easier for his plans to have Harry grow up with Petunia.

Not five days after Harry had left, Minerva had burst into his office and shouted at him for nearly a half hour. The subject of her ire was shoved in his face, a letter from Sirius Black citing that Harry would not be returning to the school during the next year, and that he would be interested in learning some things about the eastern cultures. Of course, Dumbledore had immediately started calling in what few favors he had with his contacts in the eastern countries, and learned nothing of the boy's location. Even after spending an exhausting month searching on his own, he had found not a single trace of the boy, and was just now realizing that the letter had been designed to mislead him. Or maybe it hadn't, seeing as it was addressed to Minerva. He couldn't tell!

Compounding his anger was that after he had spent most of the money on his person during his travels, he had gone to Gringotts only to find himself barred from the bank for "interfering with the wills and rights of one of their most prosperous families." It didn't take much to figure out just who was responsible for this embarrassment(and embarrassment it was, the lobby had been full when he had been escorted out of the bank), as the only family that he had interfered with to that extent was the Potters.

Because of this, he would have to wait until the next year of school before he had a galleon of his own. It was infuriating! And all because that blasted boy couldn't have just come to him instead of listening to Black.

Dumbledore uncorked the vial of blood that had taken from the boy after the Dementor quidditch match. It hadn't been hard, visiting the boy under the pretense of wanting to see how well he was doing, and Poppy had let him in without fuss, working in her office while he quickly withdrew some blood and restrengthened the compulsions on the boy's psyche.

It had taken him some time, searching through the various tomes he kept hidden in his office, but after returning from his fruitless search of Asia, he had decided to use bloodmagic to locate the boy instead, something he would rather not use as it was incredibly draining and left him weak for days afterward. It had taken him even more time to research the proper methods of carrying out the ritual.

He carefully dipped the tip of his wand in the blood, closing his eyes and chanting softly. He felt the rush of power as the primal magic moved through him, and then the blood glowed before splattering onto the parchment. He growled when all he got was a random splattering on the parchment. The location ritual had failed.

He conjured a handkerchief and wiped of the end of the wand absently, trying to figure out why such a ritual would fail. He doubted that the boy was dead; as much as he hated to admit it, if he couldn't find Harry with all his resources then it would be unlikely that any other organization could do the same. So, if the boy was still alive, that meant that his blood had changed dramatically, to the point that his previous blood was not a part of his identity. But that didn't make any sense…the only thing that could change a wizard's blood that much was…no, that was not possible.

Dumbledore staggered up from his desk, running over to the bookshelves on the far side of his office. As far as he knew, there were very few, if any Wizards that had a creature inheritance before the age of seventeen. It was so rare, in fact, that it hadn't happened in his lifetime, as far as he knew. He wracked his brain, trying to remember.

What he did know was that an inheritance at this age meant that Harry would be very powerful, possibly more powerful than himself. And this was before his final inheritance at the age of seventeen. It was worrisome, to think that the boy would likely have the power to challenge him, and made his desire to find the boy even stronger than before.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Blast that Black to the lowest reaches of hell! Everything he had planned for was quickly coming apart at the seams.

* * *

11.59.30, Magical Southampton, Bermuda

Harry jolted awake and screamed in pain.

When he had fallen asleep, he had been magically exhausted, but now he felt as if his body was filled with energy, too much for it to handle. His very heart seemed to be burning in his chest, every beat sending waves of pain through his limbs.

He tried to move, but quickly stopped, something was holding his body in place, and he blearily opened his eyes to see Remus holding down his legs, while his godfather was trying to keep his bucking body from leaving the bed. He screamed again when he felt his bones liquifying, changing shape as his body lengthened. His muscles were ripped apart, and then regrown, tighter and denser, yet lighter than they had been before. He had no idea how he could tell what was happening, but it was if he was feeling the sensations from outside of his body, while feeling all the pain that went through the inheritance. He felt a surge of energy in his eyes and cried out as his new magical contacts were forced out, flying across the room. Though he did not know it, his entire body was glowing, areas that had been scarred and burned by the Dursleys were disappearing, and badly healed breaks were being repaired. His inheritance was repairing his body, but given the pain that he was currently in, he was completely unaware of that.

Another surge of pain made its way to his scar, far worse than any pain he had before. It felt as if ants made of fire were marching through his skull, pooling around his scar and forcing something out.

Remus was holding onto his thrashing cub, buffeted by the visible waves of magical power. He was glad that he had asked Sirius to get a goblin warder for the room a few weeks ago, as the room would no longer be standing if it wasn't for the magic-grounding runes placed throughout it. He was shocked when he saw what looked like black mist coming out of his cub's scar. Was this the Horcrux that Sirius had mentioned? He felt a brief thrill of fear as the entirety of the thing was forced out, but it went away as soon as the black mist did, wailing as it was ripped apart by the tendrils of magic in the air.

After that patterns of light began to cross over his cub's skin, small oval shapes that looked almost like scales. For a moment, he saw his cub's skin turn dark with scales, then he blinked, and the skin was back to normal, still glowing slightly. Under his cubs stomach, shapes seemed to be roiling and moving. Little did he know that his cub's body was changing, organs shrinking and becoming more efficient, several new ones taking the spaces they had occupied before.

Then as suddenly as it started, the waves of magic vanished, leaving Sirius and Remus to stagger as the force pushing them away finally stopped. The grounding runes were still glowing eerily with power, and Sirius looked down at his godson's face to see that he was once again asleep, no sign of the stress he had been under showing other than a slight sheen of sweat. Papers lay strewn across the room, and to borrow a muggle phrase, the place looked like a hurricane blew through it.

Remus found himself examining his cub's face again, gaping when he saw the small skin-colored scales decorating his face. He saw scales of a darker skin tone trailing along his spine and forearms and shook his head. His cub would not be happy with the changes. Then as he watched, the scales seemed to disappear, melting back into the skin. Yet when Remus felt Harry's spine he could still feel the scales. His eyes widened in disbelief. His godson was creating a glamour, unconsciously at that.

Subconsciously, Moony drove him forward, anxious to relearn their cub's scent. When Remus did so his eyes widened even further. He sniffed again, just to make sure, and his look of shock prompted Sirius to speak.

"What is it Remy? Is he alright?"

Remus was still slightly in shock. Harry was not going to like this at all. He turned back to his mate and sighed.

"Harry's a submissive."

"How can _you_ tell, and what's wrong with being the submissive?" Sirius huffed. After all, he _was_ the submissive in their relationship.

"No Sirius, he is a submissive creature, he can get pregnant naturally."

Sirius was looking between him and Harry, then sighing. "He never gets a break does he?" He asked rhetorically.

Remus shook his head sadly.

Sirius huffed again. "I guess we'll have to give him the talk after all." Suddenly his eyes gleamed at the prospect.

"Oh no Siri, you are not giving him the talk. I will give him the talk, you will probably set him off both men and women by the time you finish."

Sirius pouted, but nodded. "Have fun telling him he's a submissive."

Remus grimaced, but nodded and left for their room, Sirius following not far behind.

* * *

Harry woke up to the feeling of soreness throughout his body. Every muscle, every patch of skin, Merlin even his hair felt like it hurt, and he didn't think that was possible. He blearily looked at his arms, seeing not much of a difference except for a slight thickening of the muscles. He looked at his legs, then did a double take. He could see, and he was certain that he had lost his contacts the night before. He jumped out of bed, ignoring the pain in his body, and promptly lost his balance and fell. Confused, he stood up, and realized that he had grown nearly half a foot. Tears came to his eyes when he made his way over to the mirror and saw that the damage from years of malnutrition had all but vanished from his body.

He sat back down on the bed, trying to massage his legs with his hands, but they were still aching inside. Harry guessed it was because of his sudden growth, but knowing what caused the pain wouldn't make it go away. Grimacing, he stood up again, feeling like a bloody invalid when he had to use the walls to support himself. Even with the lingering pain, something in his body felt lighter, like before he had been wading through shallow water. Not enough to really hurt him, but enough to slow him down.

The steps creaked as he made his way down, and he nearly fell down the stairs when Remus came out of his room suddenly. Thankfully Remus had very good reflexes, and caught him by the arm. Harry grimaced at the slight pain, and saw a worried look on the werewolf's face that was quickly covered up. Harry was quickly regaining his balance though, and by the time they got downstairs, he was walking near perfectly again, though still felt a bit achy.

Remus was reading a reply from ToothRot when Harry stumbled in through the doorway. He quickly jumped up to help the boy to the table, wincing sympathetically as Harry grimaced.

"Growth pains?"

"You have no idea." Harry replied, touching his throat after he realized how raspy it was.

"You were in a lot of pain yesterday." Remus said, pouring him some tea. "Sage, it'll help."

Harry took a long drink and his lip wrinkled at the taste. Remus laughed lightly at his expression.

They sat in silence for a while, before Remus worked up the courage to ask. "How are you feeling?"

Harry shrugged, wincing slightly at the strained muscles. "Kinda sore, and dizzy."

"I'm not surprised, your sudden change in height would make anyone feel awkward." Remus explained, looking at the stairs to his bedroom and frowning. Siri should have been up by now.

Harry nodded tiredly, slumping in his chair as Dobby brought him some breakfast. He noticed that Remus seemed kind of antsy, but he ignored it for the moment, his growling stomach was much more important.

* * *

Harry was laying on his bed, going over the events of the day in his mind and filing them away. He smiled softly. It had been the best birthday he had ever had. After having his classes for the day, all three (five counting his guardians) of his tutors had shown up for a cake and ice-cream. Well, they had shown up at least. Only his two Guardians were really enjoying the food, Hayes, Aiyana, and Shïfu had politely accepted only a little of the fattening foods, and Harry had also only eaten a little, not wanting to ruin the healthy diet he had been under lately. Sirius had no such reservations, and had consumed a (to Harry) sickening amount of ice-cream and cake.

For Harry, it was the gifts that truly made him happy. Harry wasn't anything like Dudley, who only cared how many gifts he received. He was touched by every single on of them, though there were't that many. From Aiyana, he had been extremely surprised to receive a book that looked that it had been around from the time of the founders. When he learned that it was a book on the runes used for foci and wards, he had surprised everyone when he had clutched the stern woman in a hug, crying softly. Sirius had snickered at her uncomfortable expression, and Remus had once again whacked his husband across the back of the head. Sirius shut up after that, grumbling about werewolves that didn't know when to mellow out.

After realizing he was still hugging the woman, Harry had flushed and let go of her, thanking her while drying his face and asking her where she had found it. He had been gobsmacked when she said that it was hers, and that she had no use for it anymore, so she decided that he should have it, given his current project. Harry had nearly jumped her again, but restrained himself this time and thanked her, a slight tremor in his voice.

Hayes had given him a set of magical weights and pull-up bar that could be shrunk and regrown without a wand. The weights were enchanted to increase their own weight over time by increasing their own gravity, the opposite of what was done with brooms. Harry had also thanked Hayes for the thoughtful gift, though he didn't know why he would need it if he was planning to stay here for several years at least.

Shïfu had given him an enchanted scroll, filled with moving images of different strikes, attacks, and sequences that were organized by discipline. It was an amazing piece of spell-work, but more than that, it was a way for Harry to learn wherever he was. Of course, learning from a paper and learning from a master were completely different things, but it would help.

Sirius and Remus had given him a small mirror, and a circular pendant depicting a lion about to strike. The pendant was made out of white gold and had emeralds for eyes.

Sirius had explained that the mirror was a way for them to communicate over distances, or in the next room if he really wanted to. He did warn Harry that he did have a way to shut the mirror off, causing Harry to pout a bit. So much for disturbing Siri's beauty sleep.

The pendant was also a locket, with a picture of the three of them together on the beach. Harry's eyes had misted at that, and he had dove on Sirius, hugging him tightly and thanking him. Once Sirius was able to breath again, he mentioned that the pendant was also a portkey to the house, in case he ever got in trouble. After that, Harry pulled himself out of the memory, and went into organizing the other parts of his day.

Once he finished organizing the memories, Harry let himself go to sleep, happy and tired from the long day.

* * *

After the events of his birthday, Harry had been working hard on his new abilities, as well as his research.

It had been two weeks since his inheritance and oddly enough, water and fire were the easiest of the elemental abilities for him to learn. He smiled as he remembered the time Sirius had pranked him with a good old fashioned bucket of water over the door. It had been an accident, but when Harry had touched his shirt, wishing it was dry, the water began to follow his finger away from his clothes. He had been so surprised that he had nearly dropped the water, but when he concentrated, he had been able to extract all of the water and dump it back on Sirius. Remus had been laughing at the man, and warned his mate that he did not want to mess with an elemental. Not that Sirius would listen.

His first experience with fire had been the day before his inheritance, and unlike the other elements, its power increased with the strength of Harry's emotions. Harry had learned how to do a few things with it, and upon learning that elementals of old had transportation abilities that were tied to their elements. He had managed to fire-flash for the first time the week after his inheritance, and now he used it to jump in and scare Sirius, as well as escape whenever the man tried to prank him back.

Air and Earth he was having more trouble with, Air he couldn't understand why, it was just as fluid as fire and water, but something was preventing him from actually grasping it and keeping it in control. Earth was the worst, because unlike the other elements he needed to learn, it was not something that flowed. Harry felt silly describing the elements like this, but Earth seemed to be a very stubborn element, much like himself. And he was not going to loose in a battle of stubbornness!

Shïfu had been moderately surprised by the changes his inheritance had brought, and more than a little surprised at what age he had it, but he had barely shown the emotions on his face. Only being his student for just over two months allowed him to see the slight unsettlement in his expression. To Harry's amazement, his speed and strength had dramatically increased (something he had known when Sirius had managed to make him jump several feet one time he was in the library) but Shïfu was still moving faster! It was so annoying! Was the man part vampire or something? Both Shïfu and Remus had also taken time to help Harry learn the focus and state of mind through meditation that allowed him control over his elements. Still neither had any idea how to help him very much, not being elementals themselves. Remus especially seemed frustrated by how little he was helping, but Harry told him it wasn't his fault, that he would need to learn on his own.

Speaking of Remus…. Harry's cheeks reddened. A few days after his inheritance Remus had stopped Harry in the middle of his exercises. Remus had proceeded to give him "the talk" and it had been the single most embarrassing conversation of his life. What really shocked him was when Remus dropped the bomb on him that he was a submissive creature, and that he would be able to bear children because of that. Harry had been ready to have a full blown tantrum, but something inside him stopped that cold; whispering of the joys of children and what it felt like to carry them. He guessed that these were his instincts, but he had never really expected them to be so obviously there, he had expected it to be more subconscious.

He had still been upset though, crying into Remus' chest and asking why he was such a freak.

Remus had comforted him, replying vehemently that he was NOT a freak for being able to bear children. Remus said that there were several creature species that had males that could bear children as well. Remus knew that being a male submissive was rare by creature standards, but he did not mention it. Harry had needed to know that it was alright, that there was nothing wrong with him if he was able to bear children.

Harry, of course had found out that it was rare for a creature to be a male submissive, once he had found time to research the subject. But he had let it go. He had realized that even if he had kept this from him, Remus wasn't doing it to be malicious, he was doing it because he didn't want Harry to feel bad about himself. And Harry forgave him for the small lie because of that. Besides, his instincts kept on telling him that Remus was safe, a protector, that he would do nothing to harm him, so why would he be worried about such a small lie?

Besides training his new abilities, Harry spent whatever free time he could making the gauntlets come to life. The book that Aiyana had given him was very helpful, depicting several different runic arrays that were used for different types of wands. Harry had created the right hand gauntlet, at least the metal part, and it worked perfectly. The metal was flexible and strong, almost like wearing a glove. The cushioning runes he had placed on the inside insured that he didn't break his fingers when he punched something, and the weightless runes made it seem as if the glove was a part of his body.

The problem with using it to direct magic was that metal was dead, magic could not permeate a substance made of metal(which would work in his favor) unless it was specially designed to do so. As such, Harry had created a series of conduits that ran through the glove and would allow him, in theory, to direct his magic through the fingers of the gauntlet. Another stumbling block was that he was having was to find wand cores for the final step. He had no idea where they were supplied, and even though he knew they were necessary for wands, he had been trying to figure out another medium for the magic to flow through so he wouldn't need wand-cores, but his search was not going very well.

* * *

"Harry….Are you ready to go?"

Harry jumped, engrossed as he was in the books and notes he was taking. He looked at the clock, seeing it was 11 in the morning. He sighed and banished his things back to his room, climbing up the stairs to meet with Sirius and Remus. He found them both levitating several endless cold-boxes, which as their names suggested, where essentially giant freezers to store the fish that they caught. He levitated another one, looking at his wand with distaste.

His wand was a reminder of everything that had happened to him in Hogwarts, and he longed to be rid of it. At the same time, he felt attached to the thing that had saved his life so many times. It was bloody confusing! It was also the reason he had been working so hard on his gauntlet project, because he did not want to use it more than he had to. He planned to just keep it somewhere safe after that, if for any reason that he would need it over the completed gauntlets. Harry knew that his chances of actually figuring out something that had baffled Olivander himself were low, but something told him to keep trying, that he would be the one to figure it out, and so he continued to research and work on the gauntlets. Distracted in his thoughts, he bumped into Remus, who scrambled to catch his icebox when he lost his concentration. Harry briefly wondered why they were carrying so many of the boxes. Even he knew that they wouldn't catch enough to fill one, but Sirius had decided to go all out anyway.

Sirius had been wanting to try out sailing and fishing, and had procured an _enhanced _24 ft. Center Console for them to go in. Harry rolled his eyes. Only Sirius would go buy a boat for what was bound to be a passing fancy. He did admit the boat was pretty, a creamy white that was unblemished by the effects of the sea with a cabin a soothing white-brown color. He got on gingerly, given the fact that he could still not swim that well, and got in his seat. The boat didn't have lifejackets, as there were safety charms that kept people from getting off unless they wanted to jump off. On top of that, the three of them were all wearing emergency portkeys to the house in case the boat tipped over and they couldn't get back normally.

Harry nervously fingered his locket as Sirius and Remus stuck the crates to the deck. The boat had a steering wheel, but as none of them had had any driving lessons, they would simply tell the boat where to go instead.

Sirius had finished placing his things on the deck, and stepped up to the steering wheel to cry out. "Set Sail!"

Harry rolled his eyes at the dramatics, but watched, fascinated, as the boat backed up from the dock, moving in reverse. Sirius then directed the boat to the south-west, in the direction of the legendary bermuda triangle, a place known to both wizards and muggles for disappearing ships and powerful storms. What was also known to the magicas was that near the center of the triangle was a veritable hotspot of magic, so concentrated that it could fry any electronics almost instantly, as well as disrupt the enchantments on magical vessels and brooms. It was avoided for that very reason, but Sirius had decided that they would go in that direction, reasoning that if everyone was afraid to go toward that area, there would be plenty more fish for them to catch.

Harry was just glad that they were stopping a bit over 300 miles(500 km) away from the center. Harry quickly busied himself in looking over the ocean as it sped past them, shimmering in a way that reminded him of Adena's scales. He had been surprised when the goblins told him that the soul-piece had been removed from his body, because he had learned that the parseltongue was a part of the soul-piece inhabiting his body, and yet he was still able to speak to his dragonsnake. The goblins were just about as stumped at this as he was; though they didn't show it. They had decided that the inheritance must have copied the ability, since no other explanation seemed to make sense.

He lost himself in the glittering of the ocean and the sensation of speed that the boat was giving him. It wasn't as fast as his firebolt, but it was still very fast. The waves barely affected the boat, and Harry could have fallen asleep if it weren't for the splashing of the waves and the bright sun in his face.

After several hours of traveling at what the boat said was sixty knots, Sirius ordered the boat to stop. Harry found himself staring at the waves, a slight fog coming over his mind as he looked into their depths. He felt…something…pulling on him. Like an insistent mental rope trying to make him jump into the water. He managed to dislodge the feeling, and feeling nervous, he went to tell Remus.

He made it a step before the boat was slammed from underneath, and he fell into the water as the safety nets were overloaded with magic.

Next thing that he knew, he was moving forward at a blistering pace, water swirling around him and pushing him forward even faster. It looked as if he was trapped in a bubble of air, pushed forward by the water like food going into the stomach. At that mental image, he began to panic in his mind, but found that his body was not responding to him. Instead it was moving him forward against his will. He tried to free himself from the presence of the foreign mind, but realized that it was _his _mind that was doing this. He was doing this himself. No spell was influencing him as far as he could tell.

Harry stopped struggling against his mind, and noticed his speed pick up noticeably until he could not differentiate between the water and what was in it. He idly noticed that he was moving downward and deeper into the ocean, but he could feel no difference, the air bubble around him protecting him from pressure changes. He had lost track of time and began to worry about when he would finally stop when he slowed down dramatically. He gasped at the sight before him.

Under the strands of light that Harry could tell were more or less pure magical energy, he could see the ruins of a great city. After a second look, he noticed the burns and scorch-marks that showed there had been some kind of battle. There was something niggling in his mind, something that this place reminded him of. He focused his attention on that and gasped again. Was this the lost city of Atlantis?

* * *

Harry remained there for an unknown amount of time, frozen in shock. He had believed that Atlantis was just another legend, something made up by the wizards that somehow became known to the muggles. Yet the story fit perfectly. A city that had sunk to the bottom of the sea after a great cataclysm shook its ground. He then realized that he had complete control of his body again, and quickly pulled out his mirror.

"Sirius!" He called out.

A moment later, the terrified face of his godfather appeared on the mirror.

"Harry? Is that you? Are you alright?" Sirius shouted out, the sound echoing in the small air bubble.

Harry winced at the noise, before replying "I'm fine Siri." He then grinned maniacally. "And you will not believe what I just found."

Sirius looked like he wouldn't have cared if he found the body of Merlin himself, but Remus appeared in the mirror before he could respond.

"Harry! Where in Merlin's name did you go?"

"Um…would you believe Atlantis?" Harry asked sheepishly.

Remus's mouth gaped open, mouthing words without making a sound, before he squeaked."Atlantis?" in disbelief.

Harry turned the mirror around, pointing it towards the ruins of the city below him. He heard a gasp from the mirror, and turned it back to see Remus' white face.

"Harry, you're still underwater?"

Harry nervously smoothed the hair on his forehead. "I'm in some kind of air bubble, its letting me breath normally."

Sirius took the mirror. "Harry, how the hell did you manage to get there?"

Harry shrugged and said "Swimming." He felt the slight niggling at the edge of his mind that told him his body was about to move him again, and so he quickly said. "I'll come home and show you guys the memory later, right now I need to check out something. Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but Harry quickly broke off the connection and began swimming toward the city before his body took control for him.

Now that he was paying attention, he noticed a slight tugging sensation in the back of his mind, leading him towards the center of the city. He eventually found himself in front of the central spire, blank stone was all that was in front of him. The tugging kept on pulling him towards the tower, so he shrugged and tapped the tower with his fist. It felt solid, so there was no illusion. He closed his eyes and envisioned the one thing he had learned with his earth elemental abilities, then tapped the stone again.

A maze of light seemed to stretch in his vision, encompassing the section of tower. There was a brief moment of surprise when he realized the size of this tower rivaled that of the great hall in width. He was even more surprised when he saw what looked like a hidden room inside of the tapped the stone once more to be sure of what he had seen, and then envisioned the feeling of burning in his mind that he associated with his fire-flashing. He felt the heat consume him as he disappeared in a burst of red-yellow flame.

He reappeared inside the room that he had seen before with a slight spray of steam, and was startled once again by the size of it. It was filled with a great number of bookshelves, and it took him a moment to realize that the room had been magically expanded. Though if the stories of Atlantis were true, he was unsure of how it had managed to stay that way for so long. He blinked when he realized that the room was also magically lit, and it must have been like that since the day that Atlantis had sunk.

Harry ran his eyes appreciatively over the many titles that he saw within the library, covered in strange swirling symbols that suddenly changed to English before his very eyes. He blinked at some of the titles.

**A compilation of Dracken Runes created for and adopted by Atlantis. by Arcturus Emrys**

**Crystals as a medium of magical foci by Arcturus Emrys**

And on they went. Many of the books covered in the strange symbols were written by Arcturus Emrys, who after a moment, Harry realized was his ancestor, the father of Merlin. As he looked further through the titles, he saw many that he could not decipher, written in languages that he had no idea whether or not they were still in existence.

Leaving the books, he took a look at the many weapons hanging on the walls, mainly swords and daggers, but even a strange bow covered in runes similar to those on Arturus' books. He moved on to a dimly glowing sphere, slightly larger than his head. He found himself reaching for it, and though a part of him was screaming not to touch the thing, he ignored the voice and placed his hand on the sphere. A pulse of energy made its way through his body, and he found his mind ripped from himself and forced into the sphere.

* * *

He found himself in a blinding whiteness that reminded him of the outskirts of his mindscape. He felt a brief prickle in his mind and whirled around, seeing an aged looking man, regal and yet vulnerable, standing in front of him. He narrowed his eyes at the figure and asked "Who in Merlin's name are you?"

The figure seemed to shrink in on himself at the mention of Merlin, and Harry's eyes narrowed further. He tensed, ready to attack whoever was in his mind, and the figure spoke.

"My name is Arcturus of Emrys."

Harry's mouth dropped, tenseness forgotten in the presence of his ancestor. Somehow he knew that this was real, not an illusion.

"You're Merlin's father?"

The man flinched again, but nodded.

Harry frowned. "Why are you acting like you are afraid of him?"

The man's expression turned stony. Harry sighed.

"Please, I have wanted to know about my lineage all my life. In a way, you are a sort of great-grandparent." he pleaded.

The man seemed to droop, before whispering. "Merlin was a monster."

Harry's eyebrows rose, but he did not stop the man from continuing. He wasn't raised a wizard, and if there was anything he had learned it was that wizards ignored anything that might be contrary to their beliefs of something or someone, which was why he was constantly ping-ponged between a savior and a dark lord in training.

"He was…the only one of my children…to not be born a Dracken."

"A Dracken?" Harry asked, "is that what I am?"

The man nodded, a small smile on his lips before it disappeared again.

"He had been such a sweet child; happy and playing with his brothers and sisters." the man paused and cleared his throat before continuing, eyes misting at the memories.

"But as he grew older, I noticed that he began to feel left out, an outcast in the family for being the only one besides my mate to be a human, and the only to not be in control of the four light elements."

"Who was your mate?" Harry asked softly, alarmed when silent tears slid down the man's cheeks.

"My mate was of common birth, but had such a beautiful name: Aelfric, son of Aelfgar." Arcturus shuddered, then continued. "Merlin killed him, his own father, and his own brothers and sisters with the help of the normal wizards."

Harry felt nausea curdling his stomach. "Merlin killed his own family?"

The man nodded sorrowfully, choking before managing to whisper."Every last one, and helped hunt down every Dracken after that."

Harry felt the bile rise in his throat, but he pushed it down, tears streaming down his cheeks at the thought that the figure the entire wizarding world held as a paragon of good and light had led the wizards to slaughter his entire family.

His throat tight, he managed to ask. "Why?"

"Power, and fear."

Harry shook his head in denial. If that was all it took for the wizards to kill off an entire species, what would it take for them to try and kill him? Or his mate?

The man continued. "I would like to show you something young Harry Potter." And before he could protest, the whiteness disappeared.

Harry found himself in a tower, one that he recognized as the one outside. He was standing on a balcony, Arcturus by his side, and he whimpered in dismay. He saw the massive fleet of ships, the elementals trying their best to defend the walls. He saw the earth elementals crushed, and saw the man that caused Arcturus to take in a deep breath.

"That is him?" Harry asked in disbelief. He couldn't see Merlin's face. But his stance showed that he was ready to do whatever it took to win. Harry shuddered. From the distance, the man looked almost like Dumbledore.

He continued to watch as the defenders were defeated, and as the marauding horde made its way into the city. He felt Arcturus grab him by the arm, and take them to the Library, where he saw the memory version of the man appear in front of them both, placing his hands on the sphere Harry had touched and then doing something with the room. Then there was a blaze of power so great that Harry gasped. He felt the energy flowing into the room, into of the body of the memory-Arcturus and then felt it being sent into the ground below him, encompassing the island. He felt the energy make its way down to the bowels of the island, and the ground beneath him tremble. Then there was an almighty shudder, and he saw the energy explode from Arcturus' body, consuming every living in its path as the island sunk beneath the waves.

He found himself back in the whiteness, only this time it shifted into the form of the Library that he had entered.

"You were the one to sink Atlantis?" Harry asked in disbelief, a little awed, and afraid of the power that his ancestor had displayed.

Arcturus nodded and spread his arms wide. "This library contains knowledge that is no doubt lost to the rest of the world, much of it powerful, and very dangerous in the wrong hands. He motioned to the swords. "All of our weapons have the ability to channel energy, even amplify it. As such, they can be used for casting while in battle."

"That's what I wanted to do with the gauntlets!" Harry exclaimed, completely forgetting his shock at the prospect of finishing his project. "Can the library help me with that?"

Arcturus chuckled lightly at Harry's excitement, a slight twinge of sorrow touching him at the memory of his own children acting much the same way. He mentally shook his head and said "That would not be very difficult."

"Now, to move on, another one of our creations were the power crystals, capable of storing enormous amounts of magical energy. The problem is that they take a very long time to charge, as they are designed to not affect the environment they are in by absorbing all the energy."

Harry frowned for a moment at that, then smiled again. "Did you ever dump them in active volcanoes?"

Arcturus chuckled. "Some of us wanted to try the idea, but the majority decided against it, not knowing if it could somehow cause the volcanoes to erupt prematurely."

"Oh…" Harry said, looking a bit disappointed.

The man chuckled again. "The good thing for you is that the crystals that we already have have been charging for over a thousand years, taking the energy from the room in minuscule amounts."

A sudden thought occurred to Harry. "Did you ever place the crystals inside your swords?"

Arcturus shook his head. "No, we were afraid that if one who did not have enough power, but had an evil heart could control one of these, that they would cause a great deal of damage."

"What about blood-bonding?"

"Blood bonding?" The other man echoed blankly.

Harry quickly realized that the man had no clue of what he was talking about. "My godfather has been teaching me about it, you put a spell on something using your blood so that only you can use it, otherwise it hurts the person that tries to wield it."

The man looked quite surprised before he said. "That must be something new then."

Harry looked at him a bit strangely, that process had been discovered over 800 years ago. "How long do you think it has been since you destroyed Atlantis."

"Well, firstly it wasn't _me_, I am just a copy of Arcturus' consciousness. Secondly, I lost count after 500 years."

"Atlantis sunk over a thousand years ago, at least."

"What?" "How could you be the only heir of mine to become a Dracken in over a millennium?"

"Honestly sir, I have no idea how magical inheritances work." Harry shrugged, but he too was a bit disturbed at the fact that no-one else in his family had been a Dracken since then.

The man waved a distracted hand. "Just call me Arcturus." He had his chin in his hand, looking like he was deep in thought.

He looked at Harry with a shrewd expression, then said. "I would like to learn what has happened in the outside world since my true self died."

Harry shook his head, starting to get a bit antsy with the amount of time that he had already spent here. "I would love to explain it to you now, but I have been gone for too long. My parents…Godfather and Remus, must be worried sick by now."

The man nodded a bit sadly, then perked up and said. "Then bring me with you."

Harry looked around the virtual library, then back at Arcturus in a silent question.

The man rolled his eyes. "Yes, you can take the library with you."

Harry's eyes boggled out. He had wanted to only take a few books, not the whole bloody library, hell he probably wouldn't be able to read most of it anyway. _But Remus might. _said a little voice in his head.

"Alright, but weren't you worried about someone taking books from the library and using them badly? And how am I going to take them all with me?"

"If you use your 'blood-bonding' on the chest, we will not need worry about that."

Harry searched for the 'chest' and was quite surprised to see an ornate chest painted blue and gold. He walked closer and examined it, seeing several runic clusters whose shapes made him guess they were grounding runes of a sort. Building upon that, the chest must have some way of diverting energy thrown at it into those runes.

Harry nodded to himself, reaching in his pocket for his wand, only to be shocked when he realized that he didn't have it.

He heard Arcturus laughing behind him and flushed. "What?"

"You do realize you are still inside the mind-scape of the sphere?"

Harry growled at him and then thought about leaving the sphere. He found himself back in the library, or at least he thought he was. He thought about leaving, just to be safe, and realized he hadn't moved.

Nodding to himself, he opened the chest; which strangely enough, was empty, and used his wand to gently start packing the books away. It was a useful spell that Remus had taught him after he'd found library books all over the house and not organized as they were supposed to be. Harry watched as the books, scrolls, and various journals made their way into the chest, which seemed to be truly limitless. Harry briefly wondered if Atlantean runes were more powerful, and then started packing the weapons. After that, the crystals. To finish, he gingerly picked up the sphere that held the consciousness of his ancestor and placed it into the chest as well, along with several cushioning charms. Finally done with packing, he fingered the pendant around his neck and said 'home' then disappeared in a flash of color, the trunk pulled along with him.

Authors Note:

**Atlantis:**

Right now its just a great ruin, I am thinking of having Harry somehow bring it back to the surface once again, but even if I did that, it would be very far into the story, near the end is my best guess.

Initially, I planned on making the glowing sphere a sort of index for the information in the library, but It changed into being something that preserved a copy of his ancestor's mind, which would then teach Harry how to be a Dracken and how to use his abilities.

The swords were actually what I had planned to do before the Gauntlets, but I decided it would be better if Harry made his new foci on his own, as well as the fact that hands are much more versatile than swords. (plus I kinda want to see Sirius get his ass handed to him as he tries to learn how to use them)

Next chapter: Harry goes back to Hogwarts, and his reign of terror (against those who wronged him) begins.

**Edit 4/4/12: Wow, sorry guys, I've been so busy with classes lately that I haven't realy had much time to work on this. There is not much changed in this chapter, except for the removal of the Weasley article, something I though was a bit ridiculous in the initial version of this story. **

**Just a warning: The fifth chapter will be ****_very _****different to what it is now. Especially, the thing with Cedric. It is still the same pairing, but I wanted it to be more realistic, and not one of those creature fices where he just immediately knows who his mate is and he goes after them as soon as he sees them. I do like those kind of stories, but that is not what I want for this one. Also, Harry will likely be a lot more subtle and calm than I had him before. **


	6. Chapt 5 Back to Hogwarts

**Chapt 5 Back to Hogwarts**

"Speech"

_emphasis, thoughts (should be obvious)_

_Parseltongue_

Ch 5: Back to Hogwarts

October 31, Hogwarts Great Hall, Dinner

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a quiet, yet powerful voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

The clapping and chatting died down after a few moments, the foreign students sitting at the Slytherin table being the last to finish.

The students' attention was focused back on the goblet, which turned red once again after a few seconds. A second piece of parchment flew out, to be caught in the Headmaster's hand.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

Once she made her way into the side chamber, silence fell once more, but given the fact that this was the Hogwarts champion, the majority of the hall was nearly silent .

The Goblet of Fire turned red once again; bright sparks showering out of it as the tendril of flame flew into the air, and from its end Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called cheerfully as the murmurs died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was easy for all to see what had distracted him. They too were so distracted that they failed to notice the malicious gleam in his eye as the tendril of flame shot out once again, Dumbledore reaching out and seizing the parchment. He held it and paused theatrically, allowing the tension to rise before he called out. "Harry Potter."

* * *

November 1, Magical Southampton, Bermuda.

It had been a good two and a half months since the day Harry had brought back the chest from Atlantis. Sirius had been greatly disappointed by the contents, until he heard what the swords could do. After that, he had actually called for a fencing tutor for himself, just so he could learn how to use the beautiful, yet deadly sharp and powerful weapons. He still got his arse handed to him every day, but he was getting better. Harry still found opportunities to tease him for landing on his arse due to his clumsiness.

Arcturus had taken to giving him lessons in his elemental abilities through sessions inside of the sphere. The magics were different, more tied to his emotions, primal. Each Dracken had control over the four elements, but their ability with them could vary greatly. Each had a primary element, (Fire, in Harry's case) that responded the most to their emotions. Which was why things tended to catch on fire when Harry was angry, something that amused Sirius to no end. Remus, ever the sensible one, contacted the goblins for some anti-fire wards a few days after the fishing trip that led Harry to Atlantis and Arcturus' Library.

Remus' reaction to the chest had been quite entertaining for Harry. He soon became worse than Harry in staying in the Library until late at night, which bothered the fourteen-year-old, as he was the only one that could open and close the trunk after he had blood-bonded it to him. Still, he couldn't blame the werewolf for his enthusiasm. Thanks to the books that had been written by his ancestor (in a language that he later learned was called dragontongue, the mother language of parseltongue) he had finally succeeded in creating his gauntlets. They were a dark grey metal, flexible and strong, with a white colored crystal focus at the tip of each finger. He loved them, as they never seemed to hinder his magic at all, instead letting it flow forward without any resistance. He had also found out that the strange symbols he had seen on the books were in fact the atlantean runes, and were simply the written form of dragontongue, the written form of Dracken language. It had taken him a while to learn how to write them, because he saw them as if he saw English, at least in the beginning. Eventually, he was able to control his mind so that it did not shift the characters, thus allowing him to carve quickly and efficiently.

Harry had learned that the Atlantean runes were very powerful runes indeed, but they followed the same patterns of runic sequences that he was familiar with, so it was little trouble for him to adapt to them.

One set of runes he had never seen in the runic languages that Aiyana had taught him was something that was similar to blood-bonding, yet at the same time completely different. Basically, the set of runes were imbued with the magic of the one that would use the object, and said object could then be placed in a nether region that followed the owner around, completely invisible and inaccessible to the rest of the world, even other spells. After placing these runes on his gauntlets, Harry was able to banish them and call them whenever and wherever he wanted to. They reappeared right over his hands, ready for use in an instant.

The final touch had taken Harry much longer than the rest of the work on the gauntlets, almost a month after he had integrated the crystal foci and made them indestructible. He had taken one of the smaller power crystals and placed it just under the wrist of the gauntlet. Linking the crystal to the foci had been much harder, and he had burnt out several pairs of the gauntlets before finally getting it to work. Because of this, he now had a powerful back-up source that he could use for any spell he wanted to cast. It was only for emergencies though, because the first time he had tried a low-powered blasting curse with the power crystal, he head blown a massive hole in the dueling room. Said dueling room had more than three times the amount of magic grounding runes than his room. His inheritance had been an unusually powerful one, and if a low powered shot backed by the crystal did that much damage, he didn't not want to know how much damage a full power shot could do.

After finishing his new magical foci, he had moved onto other projects, primarily taking several ideas from muggle inventions and adapting them to wizarding products.

Harry was currently finishing up one of those projects, a magical fax machine that was powered by a single crystal the size of Harry's pinky nail. The machine would take a piece of parchment and 'read' it, before sending a signal through the null-space (as Harry called the space he placed his gauntlets in) to another machine, where it would 'print' a copy of the parchment for the other person to use.

Harry finished carving the last sequence, and levitated the device with his air elemental abilities, rotating it in midair and memorizing the pattern. He closed his eyes for a moment and went over the runes in his mind, before opening them again and nodding.

He then took a second device that had yet to be marked with the runes. He held the image of the runes in his mind before focusing on the earthen device and engraving the runes all at once. He then powered the both of them, placing the crystals inside but not locking them. and pressed the rune to copy while placing a small sheet of marked parchment face-down on the surface of the tablet and inputing the runic number of the other machine.

He held his breath as a pale green light made its way over the parchment from the scanning rune sequence, then there was a small tone as the entire device flashed blue. A split-second later, the second machine turned red and began materializing the parchment out of thin air. With a double tone, it glowed white, and then stopped. Harry gingerly picked up the parchment, and promptly dropped it and did a happy dance.

"Harry?"

Harry jerked to a stop and flushed. He looked over to see his father, Remus standing in front of the desk. He had decided nearly a month ago to finally start treating his two guardians as if they were his parents, and it had brought the three of them even closer as a result.

Remus looked slightly amused, but the expression quickly died. "Harry, we need to talk upstairs."

Harry, trying not to show his worry at Remus' expression, quickly packed the books he had been using in the chest and sent it away, then locked the crystals inside their chambers and carried the two 'fax machines' with him as they went up to the kitchen.

He was even more worried when he saw the grim looks of not only his godfather, but his three tutors as well.

"What is it?" he asked tentatively.

Sirius shook his head, then handed Harry a copy of the Daily Prophet before motioning at him to read it. He did so, dread curling in his stomach.

Harry was stunned, then that feeling disappeared to rage.

"WHAT IN BLOODY HELL TO THE FATES HAVE AGAINST ME? I JUST GOT AWAY FROM THE BASTARD AND NOW I AM FORCED INTO A KNOWN TO BE DANGEROUS TOURNAMENT WITHOUT MY CONSENT! WHAT PIECE OF SHITE PROTECTIONS DID THEY EVEN HAVE ON THAT THING? WAS ANYONE EVEN WATCHING THAT DAMN CUP? WHO DOES DUMBLEFUCK THINK HE IS? HOW…?

Harry clenched his fists and flashed outside of the house. Fire wreathed itself around his hands, and with a near feral snarl he threw his hand forward, blasting the sand again and again until his anger (or was it his energy?) ran out.

Feeling more than a little drained, he walked back to the house, seeing his parents, especially Remus, watching him worriedly. He gave them both a tired smile and collapsed into the kitchen chair, holding his head in his hands.

There was a slight rustling sound as the both of them sat as well, and for a moment, none of them said anything.

Harry let out an explosive sigh. "Fate really does hate me doesn't she?" he asked rhetorically.

Sirius gave him a weak smile, but it was easy to see how worried he was. They had left Britain to make sure that Harry would be safe, to be able to learn how to wield his magic properly so that he could protect himself if Voldemort ever found him. But now, he had no choice to go back, the goblet would claim his magic if he did not go. And with the amount of magic running through his body, he would not survive.

They spent a few hours moping about the unfairness of the situation, until Harry summoned a notepad and pen and started to make plans of what to do.

First of all, Remus left to make sure that their status as American citizens was registered with the MDA, the Magical Department of America. The last thing they wanted was the corrupt ministry trying to control him. If they tried, they would feel the full wrath of the Americans, who while not as crazy about Harry as the British, wanted him mainly as a snub to the Ministry of magic. Harry honestly didn't care that they were using him like that, after all, it kept him and his family safe.

The next issue was how Harry was going to continue with his lessons. Sirius suggested that they ask if the tutors would be willing to go to Britain, but Harry quickly shot that idea down. First of all, even if he was registered as a citizen of America, he didn't want to give Dumbledore any clues as to where he lived. The citizenship was a last resort in case the old man tried something. Secondly, he didn't want to put his tutors in danger, which Sirius found silly, as they were fully grown adults and powerful on their own. Eventually, he agreed with Harry and the two of them met with his tutors the next few hours and explained the situation, and arranged for his classes to be done over mail.

Finally, Harry had to convince his parents to stay and not come after him into Britain. Harry didn't trust the old man more than he could throw him, and he knew that if his parents went back, the old man would find some way of using them to force his cooperation. He did promise to contact them every night, and that he would ward his room so that not even a fly would be able to get to him.

* * *

November 4

After saying his goodbyes to his tutors and explaining how to use the machines, Harry had quickly packed his belongings, having to search for nearly a half hour before he found Adena and put her around his neck; also packing the chest then sending his things into null-space. Remus looked a little disappointed at the loss of the manuscripts, but Harry told him that he was sure that he and Sirius could find other things to do, getting the normally stoic werewolf to blush. He then jumped on Sirius and hugged him for all of his worth, promising to call at least every two days, and that he was unsure if he would be able to call today, as long distance flashing took a lot of energy out of him.

He had hugged Remus next, telling him to be careful on the full-moons and to watch after Sirius, as he was bound to get in trouble without him to keep him busy. Sirius had been indignant at the notion, but Remus had smiled, eyes suspiciously bright before he hugged Harry tightly and let him go. Harry sighed sadly at leaving the house that had become his true home before making sure that he had placed everything he needed into his null-space and flashing away.

Harry found himself inside of the Shrieking Shack, just as he'd wanted to be. He was unprepared for the sudden sense of fatigue that filled him, and he quickly drew on the energy around him to rejuvenate himself, something that Arcturus had taught him in their bi-weekly sphere sessions. It was a helpful skill, but nowhere near as resting as getting a full nights sleep, and it .

Adena was shaking her head slowly, disoriented from the jump. He stroked her softly before hissing a **Sorry** and flashing to the Hogwarts grounds.

He easily passed the wards. and made his way inside, disillusioning his dragonsnake on the way.

He really did not want to be here. All the memories; Quidditch, his jinxed broom, his fight (there was no way that was a duel) with Quirell, Dobby trying to save him by nearly killing him, the heir of Slytherin mess, the basilisk, Tom Riddle's Horcrux (he had realized what the diary had been by now) The dementors attack on the train, learning the Patronus charm, the disastrous Quidditch game.

The worst was the memories of all the good times he had with Ron and Hermione. He had trusted them so much, and they had betrayed him for money of all things. Bitterness clawed up inside of him, why wouldn't the fates have left him alone and let him enjoy his new life?

Adena tightened around her perch, trying to sooth him. He smiled a bit and stroked her scales in thanks, it was nice to have a part of his new life with him to help him take on the old one.

He pushed back the memories and depressing thoughts. He could cry later, right now he needed to appear strong in front of Dumbledore, and prove that he had not entered his name in the tournament. Steeling himself, he called his air abilities forward, and threw the doors open, an invisible Adena ever watchful around his neck.

* * *

**(AN: And here is where the story really diverges)**

When Harry had not come back for his fourth year, there was a great deal of panic in Wizarding Britain. Had he been kidnapped? Killed? If he had, no one had been bragging beforehand, so they had no clue. It wasn't until later that Rita Skeeter revealed that Sirius Black, falsely accused convict, had his name removed from the rolls of Citizenship for Magical Britain, taking the poor Harry Potter away from his home country against his will. And of course, what the Prophet said had to be taken as a gospel truth, and so there was an ongoing manhunt for the famous young Wizard, one that kept reaching dead ends in countries that _disliked _the British Ministry of Magic on principle.

When his name came out of the goblet, the people rejoiced, thinking that their savior would be coming back to them. And though they were right in that he would be forced to come back, they were wrong about how unhappy he had been leaving his so called home country.

The doors to the great Hall opened with a bang, and as several startled screams rang through the hall, the staff watched as a young man entered the hall, clad in muggle street clothes. Several of the pureblood students looked completely scandalized at the sight, but they did not say a thing. The boy was radiating an aura of anger and frustration, enough to make hair stand on end. But the most striking thing about the boy was not his vibrant green eyes, but the scar barely hidden in his fringe.

For a moment, the entire hall was silent, the students gaping at a very much changed Harry Potter, but then it all dissolved into chaos.

Harry watched the hall with a neutral expression, not showing anything to his opponents. And that is what these people were, possible enemies. Hardly dangerous enemies, most of them, but still something to be aware of nonetheless.

He tensed when students made to get up, their voices screaming and shouting in their excitement at his coming back. He rolled his eyes as he stood still and flinched when a cannon-blast echoed through the Great Hall. His was one of the more restrained reactions, several of the standing students nearly collapsed to the floor in surprise.

"My word!" McGonagall scolded. "What kind of behavior is this? And in front of our guests as well!" She gave a severe glance over the entirety of the hall, and turned to Harry. Her eyes softened almost imperceptibly as she said: "And welcome back Mr. Potter, I am sorry that it is not under better circumstances."

Harry nodded at her, giving a small smile of thanks at her before addressing the hall. "I just wanted to say this right now: I left this school for a reason, and I'm not exactly happy about being forced back by this tournament. And knowing the Daily Prophet, I am most likely an "attention seeking brat that was seeking to humiliate the hallowed halls of Hogwarts with this latest stunt" or other rubbish, so let me say this."

He drew his wand from its holster, and said "I Harry James Potter, swear upon my life and magic that I did not willingly nor knowingly have my name entered in the Goblet of Fire, nor did I ask anyone else to put in my name for me, so mote it be."

He waved the wand and a bright flare exploded out of the tip before he returned it to its holster.

"Now that that is done, I'm going to go find a nice place to stay for the duration of the tournament, I bid you all good night."

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Dumbledore starting to get out of his seat, and he hurried out of the hall, not wanting to deal with the old man at the moment. The chamber of secrets seemed like a good place to hide for now.

When the door slammed behind him, the entire hall broke into excited whispering and conversations. He didn't know it, but in that moment he had looked more like the British image of the Boy-who-lived than he had ever before.

Unfortunately for him, this just meant more attention.

* * *

While not that original of a hiding place, the Chamber of Secrets would have to do until he had time to go to Gringotts and see what properties the Blacks had available for him to use.

Harry had made sure that there were no portraits where he was before flashing to the second floor girls bathroom. He kept himself invisible with a muttered silencio and disullusionment charm, then quietly hissed open. Myrtle apparently wasn't around, because there was no wailing or sobbing coming from her stall.

He slid down the passageway, landing on the hard floor that he remembered from his second year

The chamber itself was not very...clean. He had known that from the beginning. The basilisk was still there, looking remarkably preserved for something that had been dead for over a year. But he didn't want to park his trunk next to the corpse either.

He also knew that there was at least some kind of space behind the statue of Slytherin that was only accessable by password. Since Fawkes the phoenix could flash in here any time he wanted, Harry wanted to make sure that Dumbledore wouldn't be able to find the room he was in. After all, he had called fawkes in the first time, and from what he knew of his experience of flashing, it was _not _a good idea to flash into an area that you did not know well. You could easily end up in a wall.

_Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four. _He called out, rolling his eyes at the pompous password. He really hoped it was one of Slytherin's followers or decendants that came up with that password, and not the man himself. Though, with what he knew of the Slytherin common room, him being pompous and bigheaded was most likely.

The statue's mouth opened up, and he had to force some magic into his muscles to make the jump, casting weak sticking charms on his feet as a precaution. It was a good thing that he did, as the surface was damp and somewhat slimy to the touch. He grimaced slightly before raising a hand and coating it with fire. He felt only a tickling sensation on his fingers while he willed it for more light.

The passageway was a decent width, given how big the basilisk was Harry wasn't exactly surprised by this. What he was surprised by was the large door sunk into the wall, with a sign covered in dragon-tongue clearly stating: The Inner Chamber. And yes, those letters were capitalized.

_And now he has a flair for the dramatic. Wonderful. _Harry grumbled to himself. He looked at the door, wondering if Riddle had actually been inside to look at it. Cautiously, he cast a simple curse detector and it came up negative. He called his gauntlet out of null-space and prepared to shield, as he hissed _open._

Thankfully, Salazar Slytherin didn't seem to have much creativity when it came to the making of passwords, and the door opened. Harry cast another few detection spells, and moved through the door.

What he found made his jaw nearly drop. It looked to be a small library. There were books of potions, alchemy, rituals, and several other topics that Harry doubted had been found in the library of Atlantis. Then again, that library had existed long before most of this knowledge had been written down, so it was hardly surprising.

What was surprising was what looked to be Slytherin's personal Grimoire. He held the hand coated in fire away from the book while his other hand gingerly touched it. He felt a small tingling sensation before the book seemed to shiver and then open on its own. Harry reluctantly backed away, knowing that he had to get his bed and other things set up before the infusion of energy wore off. Still, it looked like it would be a good distraction for when he was bored.

* * *

The next day, Harry flashed to the great lake after waking up, following his morning exercise ritual. Shifu had been more than adamant about him keeping in shape, and he wasn't about to suffer the punishments that sadistic man could give him in the form of "practice".

It was later than he would usually do the exercises, by several hours, but it was a sunday, so the majority of the students were likely to still be in bed at this time. And if they weren't, he could really care less anyway. Maybe they would actually stay away if they thought he was dangerous.

He scoffed to himself, shaking his head and stretching his muscles to prepare for the run. Shifu had told him to do laps until his legs felt like rubber, then reinforce them with magic, and run until he was exhausted. Harry would do the first part, but there was no way that he was leaving himself vulnerable in a school of people that wanted nothing more than for him to stay in Britain and be their hero. No way, he would take whatever punishment Shifu thought necessary once this blasted tournament was over.

After the run, he jumped in the lake, non-verbally heating the water with his fire so that it was just warm enough to be considered bracing. He needed to practice his swimming as well.

* * *

After his exercises, he quickly cleaned himself using a few spells and walked down to Hogsmeade, wearing a hooded robe so that people would not start swarming him. He nodded to Madam Rosmerta as he paid for the floo powder and called. "Diagon Alley." He grimaced as he remembered the last time he used the floo to go there, but bravely stepped forward and let himself be spun around until he stumbled out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, coughing.

He hated floo with a passion, and vowed that he would get a goblin-made portkey so he wouldn't have to suffer the injustice of it again.

Diagon Alley was somewhat busy, and he was able to slip in and out of passerby with the aid of a notice-me-not charm. Gringotts seemed to be having a lowered amount of business, making him frown, but he figured that it would could just be because of the time of day.

He walked up to a teller, noting the tenseness of the people inside of the lobby and trying to figure out what was wrong. But it seemed that it was the goblins that the people were afraid of, and he had no clue why.

"Name?" the accountant asked.

Harry hesitated, not wanting people to know he was here. "I've come for a planned meeting with my financial advisor."

The goblin gave him a sharp look, peering at his face. Harry looked up slightly, not giving an inch. The goblin seemed to hide a bit of amusement before he scowled, asking. "His name?"

"ToothRot." Harry answered confidently. The goblin gave him a calculating glance, before he jumped down from the stool and gestured for him to follow.

He vaguely remembered taking this path the last time that he had entered the bank, noting that like before, there were fewer wizards being guided to their various advisors. For a moment Harry wondered if there was another bank run by wizards, then scoffed at the idea. From what he had seen, Wizards would not have a good mentality for working with other's money. Maybe some other magical race?

His guide knocked on the door and left as soon as ToothRot told Harry to enter. Harry, a bit bemused as to how the goblin was so certain it was him, entered nonetheless, and was surprised by the haggard look on his advisor's face. Though he would never call a goblin handsome, ToothRot's skin seemed to be wrong somehow, like it was stretched too tight over his face with worry.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, please sit down." he said, looking over the folder in his hands before making a note and putting it down.

The goblin stared at him for a moment before muttering. "Interesting.." and then shaking his head. Harry gave him a strange look, then decided to ignore it for now, ToothRot would tell him if it was something truly important.

"As explained in our latest letter, I've been forced to come back to Britain for the time being, otherwise I will lose my magic." Harry said, trailing off.

"And as a magical creature, that would truly kill you." ToothRot nodded his head thoughtfully. "I am assuming that you are looking for temporary accommodations?"

Harry nodded. He only needed something until this blasted tournament was over, nothing more.

ToothRot hummed to himself before gesturing toward a cabinet with the Black Coat of Arms. A folder came flying out and landed in the Goblin's outstretched hand, and he began to flip through the files with a speed that no human would be able to keep up with. Harry, even with his inheritance, was having trouble keeping track of the information.

"Ah, here." ToothRot stopped on a thin folder. He handed it over for Harry to see.

It was a small house, probably about the same size as the Leaky Cauldron, that was located near Hogsmeade as a place for the Blacks to have a commute instead of staying within Hogwarts. Of course, that tradition went out a few centuries ago, so the house was not in use any more, except as maybe a safehouse for members of the family on the run from the law.

He shook his head. Yeah right.

To ToothRot, he said. "Its perfect."

* * *

It was several hours later that he went back to the Hogsmeade for a meal at the Three Broomsticks. He hadn't really been there before, so he decided it was worth a try, even if he could cook his own food. ToothRot had assured him that his house would be finished within a week, as the cursebreakers had to destroy the previous wards before new ones could be constructed.

He did not trust the school food, as he had no idea who prepared the food, and how much oversight Dumbledore had over the kitchens. Besides, having the entire hall staring at you had a way of spoiling your appetite, Arcturus knew how he had been able to eat the food he had before he had left.

The Three BroomSticks was somewhat busy that day, so his notice-me-not worked to get him in without any attention. He only released it long enough for Rosmerta to get his order and deliver it before putting it back up, along with a small repelling ward around his seat.

After that, he left a generous tip for the meal and left the building, flashing back to his makeshift bedroom within the Chamber of Secrets. He spent a few hours looking over the books left by Slytherin before going to bed and falling asleep, exhausted from the long day.

* * *

Authors Note: Updated May 5 2013

So yeah, this chapter completely diverges from the original story.

I'm going to leave the other chapters up for now, mostly as placeholders, but the events are going to change quite a bit.

Don't worry, I still have plans for the pairing to remain the same, just for it to be more natural than an instant attraction and trust between them. That kinda irked me in the earlier version of this story.

Anyway, sorry for the long wait, I was really busy with school and other things.

I'm in the early stages of a HP/SG1/SGA crossover at the moment, a nice combination of wrong-boy-who-lived,squib!Harry, meta!Harry, and stuff like that. I will not however, be making it like the standard Harry is neglected by his parents because his brother is the boy who lived bla bla bla. They did abandon him, but not for those reasons.

Finally, the Temeraire crossover...I'm not sure if I'm ever going to go anywhere with that story, I just don't know the other book series that well. I'm considering putting it up for adoption, giving whoever took it my ideas for the plot, etc.

Alright, thats all I have to say.


	7. Chapt 6 Training and weighing of wands

Ch6: Training and the Weighing of the Wands

The next week seemed to pass in a blur for Harry.

As he'd somewhat expected, he gained a few spectators among the Hogwarts population for his morning exercise routine. They were probably wondering what was wrong with him if he wanted to do so much physical activity.

It was kind of silly, now that he thought about it. British Wizarding Culture put a lot more emphasis on what you could do _with _magic than without, to the point that people got so accostummed to using magic that they would summon a piece of paper from across the room. It was their choice to do so, but at the same time, if there was a need to fight or run as shown by the 'former' Death Eaters attack after the Quidditch World Cup, then these people would not be able to do very well. Granted, the pureblood wizards attacking them were much the same, but still. It amazed Harry to think that that most exercise that the students seemed to get from Hogwarts was walking around the castle.

The Quidditch players were slightly better off, but they also had nothing on the professional athletes that competed in football (not that bastardization of rugby), who were constantly running and running. They were very impressive, for non-magical beings anyway.

As Shifu had vaguely explained, wizards had magic within their bodies which tried to protect them as best as possible. Injuries that would be irreversible in the muggle world were easily treated with potions, which augmented the body's ability to heal. This same internal magic kept their muscles working far better than those of non-magicals, so that even if one was in a coma for years, it would take nearly a third of the time for the Wizard or witch to get back up on their feet.

So when he was constantly running around like a maniac, not showing any signs of stopping after minutes, it made the other students wonder.

Harry had actually been approached by Hogwart's champion, Cedric Diggory, who asked if he could run with him in the mornings. Harry had been surprised, but then shrugged and said he could if he wanted to, but he would have to set his own pace, as Harry's was well beyond ridiculous.

Cedric hadn't really thought that it was such a big deal, it was just running after all. That arrogance came to bite him back in the arse later when he was gasping by the third lap while Harry was on his fifth. He had thought that he was remarkably fit for a wizard, but Harry managed to completely outclass him in this.

"Don't worry about catching up to me Diggory." Harry said during the cooldown exercises. "I've been running like this every day since summer."

Though put out, Cedric felt determined to prove that he could keep up with Harry, and kept coming back for more punishment. Harry let him, after all, it was great training for the tournament that they were both participating in. Harry talked about the boy sometimes in the mirror, ignoring Sirius' suggestive looks and false leers. Cedric had a girlfriend for crying out loud, he wasn't gay.

The other champions seemed to keep to themselves, but Harry could sometimes see Krum swimming in the lake while Fleur practiced some kind of mixed martial arts that involved her fireballs. He hoped that it would at least keep them from getting killed.

Besides all of his exercises, Harry spent quite a bit of his time studying and cataloguing the different items that were hidden within the Inner Chamber. He was surprised that the books were still there in the chamber, then figured that Voldemort had never thought to look within the statue, as it was only the home of the basilisk, and nothing else. Arrogance seemed to be his major fault.

November 9

Despite all the things that he was doing for his training and schoolwork, Harry had found time to work on a little side project, harvesting the basilisk and then using its skin to make armor. After all, large magical creatures were known to have ridiculous magical resistance.

Once he harvested the beast, Harry would use the knowledge of his ancestors to tailor the skin into a flexible and reliable armor that fit like a second skin. Unlike a wizarding second skin, this armor could accommodate the changes that Drackens went through during pregnancy, as well as keep the body at an optimal temperature all year round. Even more impressively, the Drackens had discovered methods of increasing the magical resistance of the outer armor to the point that nothing, not even a killing curse, could get through. Harry had puzzled at that, thinking that if they were so good at the armour, why had so many of them died by the wizards?

His answer came to him when he looked over their designs. Not one of them was able to protect the neck, and a strike to the neck or head killed anything. Harry had thought on the problem, wondering how he could protect the face as well, and had come up with the idea of a crystal on the back of the neck, linked to several shielding runes placed on the inside of the collar that activated an instant before a spell struck, and was based somewhat off the protego orbis spell he had learned from Sirius. It's only problem was that it would not be able to block a killing curse (one of the many things Sirius had taught him about with his lessons), as only physical objects were able to stop it.

During one of the few lulls in his workload, he left the Inner Chamber, mentally going over the notes of the Drackens who raised the beasts for both armor and protection. It had been entertaining for Harry to think that the beast he had slain had once been used as a glorified guard-dog by his people.

Thankfully for him,, the innate magic of both the Basilisk and the Chamber had preserved the body quite well. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to use magic to skin and harvest a basilisk, thanks to their innate resistance to magical attacks.

The Drackens had lived in a time when the dangerous creatures had actually been hatched quite often for sport and guarding duties. The drackens themselves often bred the snakes, due to the fact that they could all speak to them, and that the so called 'king of snakes' would not dare to harm the descendants of the great elemental Dragons.

Some of the dumber snakes were raised to harvest, due to their potential as armor and potions ingredients, and the Drackens had detailed a method so simple compared to wizard standards, but one that had required wind elemental abilities. The simplicity of their method surprised him, given what he had learned from Wizarding books on the subject. The dracken's method was much like the modern methods of skinning normal snakes, except that instead of cutting by hand, the Drackens would levitate the blades to cut. Harry had been surprised at the fact that no-one but the Drackens had used this approach, until he learned that while wizards and goblins did have their levitation spells, they were no-where near the precision of a wind elemental lifting objects.

**Warning: Some of these details are a bit gruesome and not for the squeamish, they involved how to skin a snake. For those that want to skip this part, just look for the bold lettering that says: End skinning**

The first step, (which Harry did not like at all) was to cut off the snake's head. He had set up a containment shield for whatever fluids that might have come out of the snake's head, and wasn't disappointed as the blood came out. He made a face and transferred the blood into a series of flasks, not knowing how it would react to expanded containers and not wanting to take the risk. They were safe to place in null-space though, so it was easy to put them away until he needed them once he had marked the flasks with the storage rune.

After removing the head, Harry conjured metal fasteners to open up the mouth, slowly but surely using his weak air-elemental skills to remove the teeth one-by -one.

After that, he had milked the massive amount of venom,(thousands of drams) and not knowing what else to do with the head, painstakingly drew a rune sequence of storage into the skin and banished it to null space.

He then formed a series of stone bracers and used the power crystal for the first time to levitate the snake. It lurched upward, but Harry had quickly lowered the amount of power he wanted to use, and then flipped it over to expose its belly before placing it on the earthen bracers.

The next part was the one that disgusted Harry the most. He used his earth abilities to create a sort of giant footstool that allowed him to see the entire body of the snake. With a thought, he called an ever-sharp blade he had bought as part of a set in Bermuda, sticking it in the anal vent and then cutting along the stomach until he reached the neck. He then began separating the skin from the muscles beneath it, using a smaller blade that meticulously cut through the threads connecting the two.

After he had finished with that, the last step in removing the skin was to simply grasp it and peel it away from the body. Given the size of the snake, Harry had designed a metallic pincer of sorts that he locked around the skin and levitated to peel away the skin.

He nearly threw up at the remains of the snake, the meat and organs, but knew he had to get them too, as he could sell the meat and organs to the goblins as delicacies. It took him a while, but he managed to separate the meat from the organs, placing them in separate sterile stasis containers and packing them away.

**End skinning**

After that nauseating task, Harry had flashed himself to Slytherin's private chambers, unable to deal with the smell coating him. It took a good two hours of scrubbing to get rid of the Adena had not truly been upset over his collection of the Basilisks remains. If anything, she had been encouraging, given that the giant serpent had attacked _her_ master_, _and that it deserved to die for such a slight.

Despite the nauseating process of collecting the corpse, it was been worth it, as Harry had not needed to let anyone know of what he had done to the Basilisk he had slain. The fact that he had been the one to kill it made it his by rite of conquest, but there were some people (cough, cough Dumbledore) that would not be able to resist getting their wrinkly hands on the snake's remains for money.

November 12

Making the armor had been a bit difficult, but thankfully for him the entire process was described quite well by his ancestor, who had apparently trained Basilisks at some point in his long life and raised them for armor as well. It bothered him that they had not used the snakes to guard Atlantis, but he realized that it would have been a bad idea to have guard animals who could accidentally kill your citizens with a sidelong glance (drackens were not affected) if provoked.

He had made the armor to his specifications, including the resizing and stretching charms that allowed it to grow(using extra material linked to the armor through null-space), as well as the climate charms and regeneration spells that made the armor nigh indestructible. The magic resistance was caused by two things, first was a series of grounding runes that instead of sending the magic into the ground, they sent the majority of it into the air. The second part was to amplify the natural effects of the skin, though Harry was still a bit confused as to how the sequence did it.

The armor was in two pieces that meshed together once put on and were impossible to take off unless the wearer wished it. It was also quite flexible, the name second-skin fitting it to a T. There had been a slight problem that he had with the gauntlets, but he had been able to reshape them a bit so that they did not interfere with the armor.

Incorporating the power crystal had been a bit difficult, but Harry had figured out a method to making the proper magical channels that allowed the energy to generate a shield around the wearer's head, just as he had planned.

He stared at his creation, and knew that it was perfect, thanking the fates that he had been able to find Atlantis and the knowledge they had granted him.

November 13

A house elf popped up next to Harry from where he was lazing about by the lake. "Mr Harry Potter?"

Harry jumped and a fireball materialized in his hand before he calmed down and realized it was a house elf. A slightly terrified looking house elf.

"Oh, Sorry." Harry extinguished the fireball quickly, nervously hoping that no-one saw it. If they did, it would likely be all over the newspapers that he was the first male veela or something ridiculous.

"I is coming here to tell you about wand weighing ceremony young dragon." The elf said, eyes huge. Harry shrunk back in alarm, how did this house-elf know what he was? The house-elf continued on as if it (he had no idea what gender it was) had not said anything. "You is to go to room of of great hall to meet with Olly wand maker and other champions." With that, the elf popped away, leaving a disturbed Harry.

Pushing himself off of the ground, Harry made his way to the great hall, ignoring the stares of passerby with practiced ease.

He was beset by a garishly dressed Ludo Bagman as soon as he entered the room.

"Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, Harry, in you come...nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -"

"Wand weighing?" Harry repeated somewhat nervously.

"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter," he added, gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet..."

"Maybe not that small, Ludo," said Rita Skeeter, her eyes on Harry.

Harry stiffened immediately upon seeing the woman, but did not show any other signs of knowing her. He nodded in acknowledgement to Bagman, before going over to sit with the other champions, Diggory was already sitting next to Fleur. Skeeter seemed to want to say something, but the expression on Harry's face made it obvious that he wanted nothing to do with her.

Cedric looked curious at Harry's reaction to the woman, then remembered the last article she had printed about Harry and winced sympathetically, even though Harry didn't notice. It had not been flattering in the least; calling him an attention seeker and a traitor to the British Wizarding world for leaving them in the first place. It was no wonder that Harry wanted nothing to do with her.

Shortly after this the other judges; Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Maxine, Ollivander, and Crouch entered the room.

Skeeter settled herself down in a corner; Harry saw her slip a piece of parchment out of her bag, spread it on her knee, suck the end of the Quick-Quotes Quill, and place it on the parchment.

Bagman began the ceremony with some information about the Tournament.

"Traditionally, the Triwizard Tournament utilized three separate tasks, the first emphasizing daring and thinking under fire, the second planning and cleverness, and the third containing all of those in a series of challenges. However!" he bounced slightly. "This tournament pays tribute to the four great powers that were the precursors to modern magic, the elements!"

Inwardly, Harry did a little dance. If all the challenges were involving was the four elements, he would have no trouble surviving them.

"However, these challenges will also use deadly creatures and traps related to their respective elements."

At that, Harry deflated a bit.

"The first task is the earth task, and will take place on the 23rd of November. Now that you know, let the weighing begin!

"Mr. Ollivander of Ollivander's wands is here to test our champions." said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judges' table and talking to the champions. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

Harry looked at the man once again, who had nearly blended into the room with his unobtrusiveness. He was happy to see the wandmaker again, and wondered if he would like to see the gauntlet that had eluded him for so long. Harry shook his head to himself. It would be better to keep the gauntlet a secret until the last moment, just in case.

"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" said Mr. Ollivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room.

Fleur Delacour swept over to Mr. Olhivander and handed him her wand.

"Hmm..." he said.

He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it chose to his eyes and examined it carefully.

"Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches...inflexible...rosewood...and containing...dear me..."

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a veela," said Fleur. "One of my grandmuzzer's."

Harry was briefly surprised at the fact that she was a part-Veela, but he like many of the girls had seen the reactions the other boys had to her. He briefly wondered if his sexuality was the reason he had not been affected….

"Yes," said Mr. Ollivander, "yes, I've never used Veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands...however, to each his own, and if this suits you..."

Mr. Ollivander ran his fingers along the wand, apparently checking for scratches or bumps; then he muttered, "Orchideous!" and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip.

"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," said Mr. Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur with her wand. "Mr. Diggory, you next."

Fleur glided back to her seat, smiling at Cedric as he passed her. Harry rolled his eyes at her blatant flirting and laughed lightly at the uncomfortable look on Cedric's face.

"Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" said Mr. Ollivander, with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric handed over his wand. "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn...must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches...ash...pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition...You treat it regularly?"

"I polish my wand every night," said Cedric, grinning. Harry nearly choked when he heard the words come out the boy's mouth, earning himself several disapproving looks and a cheeky smile from Cedric.

Mr. Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wand, pronounced himself satisfied, and then said, "Mr. Krum, if you please."

Viktor Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered and duck-footed, toward Mr. Ollivander. He thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.

"Hmm," said Mr. Ollivander, "this is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I...however..."

He lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes.

"Yes...hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he shot at Krum, who nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees...quite rigid...ten and a quarter inches...Avis!"

The hornbeam wand let off a blast like a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight.

"Good," said Mr. Ollivander, handing Krum back his wand. "Which leaves...Mr. Potter."

Harry got to his feet and walked past Krum to Mr. Ollivander.

"Well Mr. Potter, where is your wand?" The man asked.

There were a few not-so-polite sounds of amusement from throughout the room at the statement.

Harry ignored them and gestured for his wand to come out of null space. It was quite amusing to see the startled looks on their faces.

Ollivander though, narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, staring at his forearms. His eyebrows rose, then quickly went back down as he bent forward to examine Harry's wand.

"Ah yes, Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, quite a powerful wand..." he murmured more to himself than anyone else. He spent several moments examining the wand, eyeing the small change Harry had made to it for a long time before giving Harry a sidelong glance and shooting a fountain of wine from the tip.

"In perfect working order." He said with satisfaction.

He paused for a moment, then added. "Though that particular addition you made...I have not seen it in many years."

_Shit._ Harry kept his face completely blank.

"Yes, it has been such a long time since I've seen proper blood magic.." Ollivander whispered to himself, seeming to forget about his audience completely.

For a moment, the entire room was completely still, then it exploded into shouting. Harry winced a bit, his sensitive hearing not liking the sudden raise in volume.

He did his best not to clutch at his ears when the cannonblast charm went off, but he still visibly flinched. Diggory didn't seem to do much better, so Harry didn't feel too bad about that.

"Now, can we let Mr. Potter explain _why _he has used blood magic on his wand?" Dumbledore asked. His tone seemed benevolent, but Harry could see the slightest amount of aggression in the man's eyes.

"Its called blood bonding." Harry answered. "It is used to make sure a certain item can only be used by you, otherwise it burns the person that tried to use it without permission."

"Harry my boy, you do know that blood magic is illegal in Britain and most of Europe?"

Harry scowled at the man. "And so is keeping enchanted muggle items in your home, yet I don't see any harm in that."

Dumbledore's expression darkened slightly. "Yet it is still illegal for a British citizen to perform such a thing on his wand, I'm afraid we're going to have to involve the Aurors in this my boy."

Harry glared at the man. "Its a good thing that I'm not a British Citizen then isn't it?" Oh the look on Dumbledore's face. He looked like he had just swallowed an especially sour lemon drop.

Bagman seemed panicked. "What do you mean you're not a British Citizen, you're the Boy-Who-Lived!"

Harry quelled the desire to send an overpowered stinging hex at the man. "The Boy-Who-Lived is a made up title, nothing more, and it certainly does not automatically make me a citizen."

"But."

"And why would you choose to leave Britain Mr. Potter?" Rita asked sweetly, her quill already posed over her parchment.

Harry looked at her just as sweetly, then made a small gesture with his wand, incinerating said parchment. "Because of people like you."

And with that, he bowed to Ollivander before leaving the room. Cedric, amazed at the Harry's audacity, stood frozen for a moment before following him out of the room.

* * *

"You alright Potter?" He asked when he finally caught up to Harry outside by the lake.

Harry turned around quickly, his wand already in hand, before he realized that it was only Cedric and not a threat.

Sighing softly, he put his wand away and shook his head, sitting down on the grass and pulling some of it out with his hands.

Cedric waited for a moment, sitting on the rock a few feet away.

Ever since that disastrous quidditch game last year, he had been paying more attention to the legend behind the boy who lived. It disgusted him, thinking about how much people in their world revered Harry, some nearly worshipped him, for something that he had done when he was but a baby. How could Harry know what he had done that night all those years ago. How could anyone really?

And yet there were so many stories about the supposed exploits of the Boy who lived, stories of him living in a hidden castle and fighting off terrible dragons to save the lovely maiden, when he was not even ten years old. Ridiculous. It was so obviously fantasy, yet there were witches and wizards that believed them as if they were gospel truth.

"I..I'm just tired." Harry mumbled, more to himself than anyone else. But Cedric understood completely. Harry had the burden of the wizarding world on his shoulders. All of those people. _adults, _believing that he was their savior and protector, that they could use and abuse him without remorse because he was theirs, theirs to idolize and theirs to hate.

Cedric remembered what had happened when it had been discovered the Harry was a parselmouth. The entire school had turned on him, thinking him evil for a talent that he knew nothing about. They shunned him, thinking that he was the one attacking the muggleborn students, when his very best friend _was_ a muggleborn. It made no sense, none at all, and yet the students had believed the rumors without question.

Cedric would be tired too, he was tired, in a different way. His father wanted him to be perfect, to have straight grades, be head boy in his final year, get a job in the Ministry inside of _his_ department, all so his father could boast and laugh and say that Cedric was _his _son. Amos Diggory did not truly care for what _Cedric_ wanted, his hopes or fears. His father could not, and would not, see any fault with his son, the man that would marry, have children with a nice stay-at-home-witch, and then make his way up the ministry ladder like his father before him.

Yet Cedric knew he wasn't that person. He knew that he could _never_ be with a witch, not like that. He didn't want to be a part of the ministry, which even his father admitted was horribly corrupt and inefficient.

Yes, he could understand pressure, but even for him, imagining the burden that having the hopes and dreams of an entire country on Harry's shoulders was unimaginable. He was surprised that Harry hadn't snapped earlier. .

Unbidden, the words came out of his mouth. "I understand."

Faster than he could believe, Harry spun around, anger in his eyes, frustration evident in nearly every pore of his body. Cedric winced, not knowing why the words came out so easily, but they had, and Harry was angry at him.

"What do you know about being tired." Harry scoffed at him, his eyes daring him to say something. Cedric felt almost intimidated by that face, the gleam in Harry's eyes near animalistic. Yet the words made him angry.

Subconsciously, he knew that he was in the wrong, but he didn't care. He hated his life, being the perfect son with the perfect scores and the perfect quidditch team and the perfect life. He hated pretending to his father that he was someone that he was not.

"No one understands what it's like!" Harry nearly shouted at him. "Everyone stares at me, thinks me some kind of god, completely perfect, and then they all jump on me when I prove them wrong. I do one thing that I don't know is wrong, and everyone turns against me! Even my friends were bloody stealing from me you perfect little prefect! You ever have that happen to you? Huh?"

Harry was panting, his eyes nearly glowing and wild. His face was flushed with emotion, and for a moment, Cedric felt the smallest amount of desire rise within him before he ruthlessly quashed it.

He looked at Harry's eyes, suddenly noticing how _old _they seemed, how exhausted of life they seemed to be.

"No, not as bad as you." He admitted.

"Then what is bloody bad about your life? You have a family, a mother and father, everyone loves you!" Harry exclaimed angrily.

Cedric didn't really know what to say at first, seeing how angry Harry really was. He couldn't really blame him, not really. Harry had just been nearly arrested for using blood magic to _protect_ his wand. Never mind that it was for protection, but the fact that he had used blood magic at all was what had set off the European wizards.

"I'm the only son of my house." He began, then started talking again a few seconds later.

"I know you weren't raised in this world, and that's fine, I envy you in that sense-"

"How could you envy me? My relatives _hated_ me! They would have been happy if I drowned!"

Cedric stopped again, because really, what could he say that measured up to that. Sure his dad only really cared about him for his achievements, but still, he hadn't actively tried to hurt him, more just..ignored his complaints.

"What, seriously, what could be so bad about your life?" Harry asked sarcastically.

Cedric gave the younger boy an even look, then shook his head, getting up from his seat. Harry was too upset already, he didn't want to make him any angrier. Coming to see what was wrong was a mistake.

"Oh, now you're running away? Typical." Harry muttered the last word, before burying his face in his hands, wanting nothing more to just scream until his voice was hoarse. He hated this place, hated being back here where there were so many memories of the good times, things that happened before he knew what his so called friends had really done to him. Everything that he had known about this world was a lie. Merlin was a murdering psychopath, killing off an entire race because he couldn't wield the same power that they could, overwhelming them with numbers. Dumbledore was a liar and a thief and a puppeteer all in one, and was the one that made his childhood so miserable.

The wizarding world had looked like such a nice place when he was younger, but now, it just seemed worse than the muggle world. At least there Harry knew what to expect from people. He wasn't someone special, wasn't mobbed as soon as he stepped out into public.

He felt Adena's invisible coils tighten around him and gently touched her scales, thanking her softly for distracting him. He turned and saw Cedric still standing there, not moving, fists somewhat clenched, and sighed.

"I'm sorry." Harry said softly, not looking at Cedric. "I shouldn't have said those things, it wasn't my right."

Cedric turned to him, expecting sarcasm and annoyance in those eyes, but instead they seemed..sad, nearly miserable. He sighed and waved his hand. "It wasn't a big deal." He answered.

Harry scowled at him. Now what had he done?

"Don't downplay your own problems, I was just angry at those idiots and took it out on you, so for that I'm apologizing." Harry answered a bit crossly.

"Well your problems seem to be a bit worse than mine." Cedric snarked back.

Harry's eyebrow rose slightly. "Probably, but that doesn't mean yours aren't important either."

Cedric shrugged, not wanting to go into that topic.

They stood there, not knowing what to say to each other, until Harry slowly sat up and extended his hand to help the older boy up. Cedric took it, surprised at how easily Harry was able to lift him.

"See you here tomorrow morning?" Harry asked.

Cedric looked at Harry, seeing the hope in his eyes, and couldn't say no.

Harry smiled softly, then on an impulse suddenly hugged him tightly.

Cedric stiffened, not knowing how to act, but then Harry realized his discomfort and quickly let go, his face flushing red. "Sorry." He whispered. "I shouldn't...you...girlfriend..." He whispered, backing away.

Cedric furrowed his brows. What was Harry talking about? He didn't have a girlfriend. He slowly moved forward and returned the hug, whispering. "No girlfriends." Harry's face reddened even more as he squirmed slightly, before Cedric let him go, his own face flushed slightly at the somewhat intimate gesture.

For a moment there was a very awkward atmosphere, before they both began to speak.

"I..er."

"Well...I"

"Need to go." they both finished, before smiling slightly at the other before they headed toward the Castle, trying to keep some distance between the two of them and ignoring the strange tingling sensation that didn't want to go away.

* * *

Authors note:

Updated 5/8/13

Ok, theres the end of chapter 6

It happens a bit later than in the first version of this story, but the two of them are starting to get comfortable with each other. They won't be kissing anytime soon, but they will grow attracted enough to each other until Cedric is invited for Christmas, and Harry will realize that he wants Cedric to be his true mate.

Next chapter is leading up to the first task, which will be different from the original, but still have some of the same things from my original version of the story.


	8. Chapt 7 A secret kept

Ch7: A secret kept

November 15

Dumbledore was more than a little annoyed with how hard it was to find Harry. It had taken a house-elf to send him a message, and unfortunately for him, the Hogwarts house elves had it wired into their magic to always respect the wishes of the students, so using one to go grab Harry against his will was something he could not do.

After the disaster with Gringotts, he finally had money to spend on himself, but it wasn't much, not really compared to what he had from his family vaults. According to the goblins, he would be able to access his wealth once he publicly acknowledged what he had done to deserve the punishment, and even with his immense political capital, he did not want the fall-out from such an event. It would nearly ruin him to learn that he had stolen from the boy-who-lived, unless there was some way of completely tarnishing Harry's reputation so that no one would believe him.

He crossed his fingers together, thinking deeply. There was the knowledge that Harry was an unknown creature, but if he wasn't careful, leaking such information to the Daily Prophet could crucify him, as it was illegal to use blood magic in Britain except for identification purposes in Gringotts. So if he was the one who leaked the information, then he would be accused of either breaking into Gringotts, or using blood magic, and neither could happen to him.

However, if he acted through an agent...yes, that could work. Now who would have enough of a grudge against Harry to do something like that?

His mind flashed back to the weighing of the wands, and he smiled when he remembered that Harry had burned Rita Skeeter's notes on the weighing, something that would be the ultimate insult to a reporter such as her. And honestly, he didn't care if anything happened to her, she was a particularly nasty individual that should have been removed from society years ago.

Yes, Rita Skeeter would do fine.

* * *

November 17

After he had cooled down, Harry immediately knew that he had caused a lot of problems for himself. Rita Skeeter had attacked him in the press without even knowing him, something that was quite expected of her. She thrived on gossip and ruining other people's lives, and angering her such as he did was not the smartest idea. Of course, he had no idea what she could possibly dig up on him, but when the people in the Three Broomsticks started whispering and staring at him, he knew it wasn't any good.

"May I see that?" He asked, looking directly at Madam Rosmerta. Out of a sudden she was completely nervous around him, as if he was going to attack her at any moment.

**Boy-who-lived-to-be-a-dark-creature!**

After reading the headline he closed his eyes in pain. Now everyone was going to be back to hating him, everything was going to get more difficult for him from now on. Hopefully he wouldn't have to defend himself from an overzealous ministry, but he knew that was a wish that likely wouldn't be granted. He opened his eyes and read the passage slowly, ignoring the growing murmurs around him. How had she even known?

**Boy-who-lived-to-be-a-dark-creature!**

**By Rita Skeeter**

_This is a very troubling day for Britain, witches and wizards, a very troubling day indeed._

_Why? You may ask. Simply put, our beloved savior has been corrupted into the very thing that he was destined to fight! He has become a dark creature, one powerful enough to kill us all!_

Harry rolled his eyes, even though the beginnings of anger were beginning to stir in his stomach. Skeeter was so overdramatic it wasn't funny. Where was her proof of the claim that he was a dark creature.

_Through an inheritance parchment sent to our offices, it has been shown that our beloved savior had an creature inheritance on his last birthday, and that such an inheritance has not been seen in over a thousand years, as the bloodline of such awful creatures was thought to be extinct!_

Harry scowled. The only reason that he was the last Dracken was that Merlin was an ungrateful brat whose ego couldn't handle that fact he was no-where near as powerful as the rest of his family, never mind that he had been one of the most powerful wizards of his era. And how had Skeeter even known that? Had she just decided that because it was an inheritance that was unknown that it would immediately mean that he was dark? He mentally grimaced. He was starting to regret burning her parchment.

_Even worse, Mr Potter admitted to this reporter during the Weighing of the wands that he uses blood-magic regularly, in order to 'protect' his belongings. In my opinion, this is just an excuse to put harmful curses on the students of Hogwarts without their knowing. Who knows what kind of curses he could have placed on our beloved children?_

Now wait a minute, he only used blood magic for one thing, and that was his wand, where had he said anything about multiple usages? That bitch was completely making things up.

_This beast must be stopped, and removed from Hogwarts School of WitchCraft and Wizardry immediately, for if he is not, how long will it be before he kills one of our precious students? How long before he destroys the symbol of all our hopes and dreams in Britain? If we do not act soon, he will strike, and we will suffer._

_I implore you, as citizens of the great society of Wizarding Britain, to do something about this monster, to make sure he is removed, or better yet, imprisoned to keep the others of our society safe._

He scowled when he finished reading. Somehow Skeeter had been able to sneak into Gringotts and steal _his _inheritance parchment. The goblins were not going to be very happy with her.

Unbidden a bloodthirsty smile came to his lips. Oh he couldn't wait to see what they did to her. But that smile soon disappeared with the increasing sound coming from around him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw what looked to be an Auror drawing his wand as if to attack him.

A thought suddenly occurred to him. The reputation of Gringotts was legendary. They were never known to break the trust of their clients, believing that such a thing could ruin that already fragile relationship that goblins had with the wizards. But an inheritance parchment could only come from Gringotts, which to the populace meant that either Skeeter broke into gringotts, or she completely made this up.

"What a load of crap." Harry said loudly.

The auror behind him froze, moving away slowly as if that would keep him from being noticed.

"I mean really, where did she get her information?" He asked rhetorically. None of the patrons seemed to have a clue.

"The ministry!" Someone shouted, but Harry couldn't really tell who it was.

He shook his head. "The ministry doesn't keep track of bloodlines, only Gringotts does." he answered.

"So what, the Daily prophet still says you're a dark creature?" The auror scowled nastily at him.

"And if they came out and said the Auror department was filled with incompetent idiots then it would still be true?" Harry retorted, feeling slightly smug. If the author affirmed that statement then he would basically be saying that he was an idiot, but if he refuted it then he was saying the Prophet was lying.

"Of course not!" The man growled, before realizing his mistake.

"So where's her proof then?"

Another customer spoke up and said "She got it from Gringotts."

Harry's gaze turned to the man, who quailed slightly at his expression. "And since when does Gringotts just hand information about their clients to the Media? Have you ever heard anything about how much money the Malfoys have, or how they've spent it? After all, it would be a very interesting thing to see what such an upstanding man such as Lord Malfoy does with his time and money." Internally Harry grimaced at calling Lucius an upstanding man, but it was essential to his argument.

There was no answer.

"So either Skeeter _broke into Gringotts _and survived, or she's lying." Harry finished, before standing up. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go speak to the Prophet about their blatant lies."

No one stopped him, and he could even see a older witch grap some howler paper from her pocket and begin to write a message. He quirked an eyebrow at the thought of carrying around that paper at all times before he strode over to the fireplace and threw the floo powder into it. "Diagon Alley."

* * *

After visiting the Goblins to calm them down, it didn't take too long for Harry to find the office of the Daily Prophet, but getting in to see the editor was another story.

"No! you cannot see the editor, he is too busy!" Cuffe's secretary screamed shrilly at him. "This is no place for you Dark Creature!"

Harry sighed wistfully. "Once again it is proved to me how _idiotic _you people are. I've already said this once, either Skeeter broke into Gringotts and _stole_ an inheritance parchment from the goblins, or she is _making it up!_ Which do you really thing is more likely? 'Cause if she tried to steal from the goblins, do you really think they'd let her leave the bank alive?"

The secretary didn't give him an answer, stubbornly glaring at him.

"I wonder what the French would think about this?" Harry wondered aloud. "Corrupt newspaper tells lies about prominent wizard to increase subscriptions...that sounds like a good title."

The secretary paled, then renewed her glare at him. Harry inwardly smirked. The animosity between different magical countries was ridiculous over here, mainly due to long feuds that were long forgotten between various powers of the time. Threatening to give the French ammunition on their British counterparts would make Britain an international laughing stock, something that he knew the Ministry wouldn't like.

"Let him in Sylvia." A weary voice sounded. Harry's smirk became visible as he blew a kiss to the secretary. She nearly started frothing at the mouth.

"What can I do for you Mr. Potter?" Barnabas Cuffe asked him wearily. He knew full well why the Potter scion was here, but it didn't hurt to be somewhat polite to the man threatening to ruin his paper's reputation.

"Well, you can start by having Skeeter verify her sources, if she has any, in the next issue." Harry said offhandedly.

Cuffe grimaced slightly, before opening his door and asking his secretary to fetch Ms. Skeeter. Harry made sure to keep control of his emotions. If he wanted to discredit her, he needed to keep a level head and provide his evidence that she was lying, even if she had actually stumbled onto the truth.

"You called for me Cuffy?" Skeeter nearly simpered as she entered the office. Her expression immediately turned sour at the sight of Harry though. "What is he doing here?" She nearly hissed.

Harry smiled at her. "I'm just here to make sure that you don't start the next Goblin Rebellion Skeeter, you know how much they love their reputation of an impenetrable bank."

She scowled at him before her face turned white. It seemed she realized just where he was going with this.

Cuffe seemed somewhat resigned. "Rita, do you have any proof of what you said?"

Rita seemed conflicted, then withdrew a somewhat familiar piece of parchment from her purse. Harry looked it over, seeming that it was indeed very similar to the ones used by the bank. Except that there was no Gringotts insignia as a watermark.

"You do know that Gringotts has a watermark on their scrolls right?" He asked dryly, pointing at the offending area.

She didn't answer, her scowl simply deepening.

"Rita...where did you get this?" Cuffe asked. His voice was soft, but it had an underlying edge that made the reporter uneasy.

"I..." She shook her head, sealing her lips.

"If it isn't from Gringotts, then how do you even know it isn't some big lie to discredit me?" Harry pushed, knowing that he had her where he wanted.

"I..." She looked between a triumphant Harry and an unhappy Cuffe. "It came to me in the mail, a Hogwarts school owl."

Harry was hard pressed to not let his expression turn to panic. He scoffed loudly. "And who at Hogwarts would have the desire to see me discredited?"

"I..I don't know." Rita stammered.

"Do you have the original letter Rita?" Cuffe asked, his voice turning stern.

She started to shake her head, before she stopped and withdrew a letter with familiar loopy handwriting. Harry froze, before he realized where this was going and started to laugh.

"Dumbledore put you up to this?" He coughed. "Oh that's rich." Rita didn't look to happy at that.

"What is it Mr Potter?" Cuffe seemed to be back in that resigned tone of voice.

"You mean you don't know?" He asked incredulously. "Dumbledore had his vaults conditionally impounded for _stealing _from mine, the goblins told me he was dumped outside of the bank in broad daylight."

Cuffe looked uncomfortable, before he said "There were rumors, but none of them were proved to be true...-"

Harry laughed loudly, interrupting the man. "It was done in front of the entire alley, how could it not be proved?"

Cuffe shifted uncomfortably but didn't answer.

"Let me guess, Dumbledore was too powerful at that moment to target in the Prophet."

There still wasn't an answer, but Harry could tell by their expressions that this was the case.

"Unbelievable." he scoffed, before shaking his head and moving on.

"So, what are we going to do to clear up this mess?" he asked, looking directly at the editor's eyes.

Cuffe seemed to squirm before answering. "We'll print a retraction."

Harry nodded at him before saying. "Good, you have three days before I speak to the French." That was more than enough time for them to print a response, but he figured being nice would gain him some points after his rather rude entrance. It would be better to have the Prophet neutral to him than an enemy.

With that done, he left the office. A few minutes later, the first howler exploded in Skeeter's face.

* * *

After that rather entertaining time at the Prophet's office, Harry made his way down the alley, applying a moderate glamour so as to not be recognized by the populace. Everywhere he went he could hear people speaking in low tones about their savior being nothing more than a dirty 'creature', which angered him, even if he didn't show it.

He was just glad that he had been able to come up with a convincing argument. The fact that he got to discredit Dumbledore was just the icing on the cake. Now, what to do...

Well, he could see if the bookstores had any books he didn't about earth based creatures. With the large number of books that he had in his trunk, he doubted it, but it wouldn't hurt to browse a little.

Sadly, there wasn't anything useful in Diagon Alley. Most of the books hadn't been updated in years, and others held less information than what he needed. He scowled in disgust as he read a book that clearly hadn't been edited properly, if the spelling was anything to go by.

He stopped at Florean's ice cream parlor for a small bowl of chocolate and raspberry with nuts (his favorite since it was the first ice cream he ever had). After several more hours of looking around the alley, he decided to go visit Ollivander and see what he could do to improve his gauntlets.

* * *

The shop was completely empty, as it was the middle of the school year. He had had been alone in the store for several minutes when seemingly out of nowhere, the old man appeared, causing him to jump slightly. It annoyed Harry that Ollivander was still able to sneak up on him, even with his advanced senses, and he briefly wondered if the wand-maker possessed some kind of creature blood in his lineage that allowed him to be so inhumanly silent.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter; how may I help you this evening?" Harry sighed and removed the glamour. How did he always know?

It was just then when Harry realized how much time he had spent in the Alley. He had left the Three Broomsticks shortly after breakfast, and the time was soon coming up on dinner. Harry's stomach gave a small growl of hunger at the thought. Ollivander raised one pale eyebrow in a very Snape-like expression.

Harry gave an embarrassed smile, and Ollivander seemed to roll his eyes before opening the counter to allow Harry to pass through. "I assume you came to discuss the changes you made to your wand with me?" Ollivander asked over his shoulder, leading him into a small cozy kitchen-like room that should have not been able to fit into the tiny shop.

"I thought it would be a good idea, since I was already here." Harry replied, sitting down in one of the small stools by the round kitchen table.

Ollivander nodded as he moved over to a small cabinet, pulling out several cauldron cakes and biscuits. He made a small plate and placed them on the table, while retrieving a teapot from the counter along with several cups.

After they had been served, Ollivander sat down on another one of the stools.

"So Mr. Potter, what is it that you want to really to talk to me about?" Ollivander asked him, eyebrow raised. Harry nearly face-palmed at how easily the old man had read him.

Harry quickly cast a series of detection spells he had learnt from Sirius, then nodded when the results came back as negative. "I am assuming you know Occlumency?"

Ollivander nodded.

"What I am telling you must not ever be repeated in any way." Harry began.

Ollivander spoke quietly. "You have my word."

"Good." Harry paused. "You remember that Sirius was declared innocent at the end of my last school year correct?"

"Yes?" Ollivander replied, a bit unsure of how this related to Harry's foci, but going along with it for now.

"Well, he took me out of Britain, to the Bahamas. After we learned of what Dumbledore and the Weasleys had done to me, we decided that we wanted to move to a place not under the control of the British Ministry." "We even went so far as to become citizens of the American Ministry of Magic, and drop our British Citizenships in case Dumbledore tried to pull something."

Ollivander looked rather surprised at that. "You dropped your British Citizenship?"

Harry scowled slightly. "If I stayed a British Citizen, the Aurors would be able to arrest me simply for being a 'Dark Creature'."

"So that article this morning...?"

Harry shrugged. Ollivander was already under the oath, it couldn't really hurt him to say anything.

Ollivander sighed. "Those fools will never learn." He looked Harry over with a gimlet eye. "Does whatever you have to speak about have to do with the Americans?"

"Yes and No." Harry replied. "My runes tutor was a Native American named Aiyana, which I mentioned to you before was the person who have me the book of wandcrafting runes." "It was her lessons that allowed me to understand how to link the runes properly for the project."

With that, he called the Gauntlets to his hands, enjoying the rare look of shock on the old man's face. He looked as if he were seeing the holy grail or something. It was more than a little amusing to see the flabbergasted look on the normally stoic face.

"You made a non-buffer based foci?" Ollivander managed to ask. Harry nodded, not at all surprised at the man's ability to sense magic. All wandmakers needed some form of the ability if they wanted to try and match wands to their proper wielders.

"It took a while, but with a little help I managed to get it to work." He said nonchalantly. Ollivander seemed to give him an irritated look and he sighed. "Fine, I found the information in the archives of Atlantis."

Ollivander gaped for a moment, his mouth seemingly not able to work until he was able to gather his composure. "You mean to tell me that you found a city thought to be a mere myth Mr. Potter?"

Harry briefly thought of mentioning how his elemental powers brought him there, and decided to bend the truth a little. "I am the heir of the last ruler of Atlantis, the only one to be considered as such due to my inheritance. Because of that, Atlantis revealed itself to me."

Ollivander looked at Harry shrewdly, knowing that he was not telling the entire truth, but decided to let it go for the moment.

"Anyway, the reason I was able to make the gauntlets was because of a number of magical technologies created by my ancestor's people, the most important being their ability to manipulate the growth of crystals. "

He took out another model of the gauntlet that had yet to be blood-bonded. "You can touch this one, I haven't bonded it yet."

Ollivander ran his fingers over the smooth metal, feeling the slight texture of the hundreds of minuscule runes carved into the surface. "This is very detailed work for one who has spent less than a year rune-carving Mr. Potter." he murmured, not removing his eyes from the metal.

"How did you know I'd only spent -you know what, I don't really need to know." "And it is detailed because I used an alternate method of carving the runes into the surface."

"An alternate method…?" Ollivander frowned, trying to figure out exactly how that sort of thing was possible.

Harry smiled again. "One not available to most wizards." He supplied. "But I'm not here to talk about that."

Harry spent the next hour or so explaining how instead of using a wand core as a buffer to increase resistance and allowing spells to form, he had created a series of channels through the metal, much like semiconductors within a circuit. The magic would flow only through the pathways carved into the metal, focusing all of their power into the spells instead of losing some of the energy to heat (as they would do through wood). He also mentioned that the crystals of the tips were what focused the flow of magic into the spells needed, reducing the energy loss even further. Needless to say, Ollivander had been very impressed with these crystals, and disappointed in the fact that Harry could not share the secrets of the crystals with him. He understood though, no wandmaker would give away their methods to another, the fact Harry had told him so much already was remarkable. He did offer a few suggestions over increasing the efficiency due to placement, but other than that it was mostly a discussion over wandlore, not that Harry knew much about it.

It was nearing the end of Dinner by the time Harry flashed back to the castle. Harry felt the exhaustion seeping into his limbs and quickly got himself ready for bed, feeling rather good about the things he had accomplished that day.

* * *

The next two days were rather interesting. Cedric had been mildly put out that Harry hadn't been running the morning that the article came out, saying that the papers calling him a dark creature was no excuse for hiding away.

Even though he hadn't exactly been hiding away, Harry let it go, feeling guilty for keeping this creature part of him a secret, and feeling angry at himself for doing so. It didn't make sense. Cedric was not even a friend, not someone he could trust yet with his secret. After all, how could he know the other champion's motivations? What if he was just trying to use him somehow?

He tried to keep from showing this to Cedric, but it seemed he was more than obvious, because Cedric had a concerned expression on his face far to often for Harry's comfort. He didn't ask though, respecting Harry's privacy, and bloody hell! That just made him feel even worse about himself, so he pushed himself harder for the task.

The retraction came out two days after he had spoken to the prophet, and Harry decided to sit at the Hufflepuff table at the invitation of Cedric, who said Harry spent far too much of his time alone to be healthy. A majority of the students in the hall were giving him either hostile or frightened looks.

Dumbledore looked rather smug, at least until the expected retraction was deposited in front of him. Then he looked almost as if he were in a rage. Luckily for him, most of the hall was reading the Prophet, and his mask was back in place before they could notice. Harry though, had been watching him the entire time, and it was his turn to irritate the man, winking at him before returning to his breakfast.

It was both amusing and disturbing how quickly the hall went from hating 'Harry-Potter-the boy-who-became-a-creature' to adoring him once again. These people called themselves superior to the muggles, when the majority didn't have a lick of common sense. It was as if Magic completely changed their sense of logic, making them think that whatever their elders said was true without a word of protest.

Harry shook his head to himself, noticing that the other two members of the so called golden-trio were watching him carefully. He had been deliberately keeping his distance from the two of them, not wanting to see them at all. Just thinking that they had been using him from nearly the beginning was enough to make him angry, and though he thought he had a decent amount of self control, he didn't really want to test it by having to deal with them. He got up before they worked up their courage and went to get his armor. Armor had been used in past tournaments, so Harry could not be penalized for using it. If he was, he didn't really care anyway. He had been forced into this tournament and he was only going to stay until his life wasn't in danger from the contract anymore.

* * *

November 21

The Three Broomsticks

"Hey Harry, what are the chances of meeting you here?" Harry heard a voice behind him and he turned around, slightly surprised to see Cedric standing there with a smile on his face.

"Hi Cedric." he replied somewhat bemusedly. "What're you doing here?"

Cedric scratched the back of his neck nervously, and shrugged. "Its a Hogsmeade weekend, and when I saw you in the window I thought I'd say hi."

Harry smiled slightly at him, then gestured toward the other side of the table. "Why don't you sit for some lunch, my treat."

Though he didn't show it, he was nervous. He had spent the last two few days working on an armor much like he had made for yourself, but he didn't have the proper measurements for the older boy, and didn't really know how to get them discreetly.

A few minutes later, both their meals with delivered, and he nodded in thanks to their server. A few moments later he placed a muffliato charm around their table.

"So..." Harry bit his lip, then decided _the hell with it_.

"What are your clothing measurements?" he blurted, just as Cedric was taking a sip of his drink. He spluttered, coughing slightly as Harry got up to see if he was alright. Cedric waved him off, rubbing his throat for a moment before he said "I'm fine." a bit hoarsely.

Harry waited impatiently, trying not to grasp his hands together like he tended to do when nervous.

"Why do you ask?" Cedric finally said, looking at Harry in a mixture of bemusement and laughter.

"I made myself armor from the Basilisk I killed in the Chamber and wanted to-"

"Whoa! wait a minute Harry, what _basilisk?" _

Harry stared at the other boy. "You mean no one ever knew what Slytherin's monster was?"

Cedric paled. "When everyone was getting petrified?"

Harry nodded.

Cedric looked like he was terrified, angry, and worried all at the same time, and somehow managed to pull of the look without looking constipated.

"You fought a bloody basilisk when you were 12?" he managed to ask weakly.

"Um...yes?" Harry asked more than answered, not knowing how to respond.

Cedric fell back onto his chair, holding his head in his hands. "And that thing in your first year with the third floor?"

Harry's face must have given him away, because Cedric hurriedly added. "You don't have to say anything, never mind I asked."

Harry gave a weak smile before shrugging. The table grew silent for a moment, before Cedric said."We can go and get my measurements from Gladrags, I my family buys from them all the time." He rolled his eyes at the last sentence, as if to say that he didn't enjoy it that much.

Harry nodded and they finished their meal before leaving a decent tip for their server.

"So why do you even want to make..." Cedric trailed off as Harry held a finger to his lips, eyes looking all around him. Cedric nodded, and Harry said. "'Cause you're my first real friend, you just wanted to know me because of me."

Cedric could sense that there was something else there, but didn't intrude. It was rude to demand to know everything about a... friend, especially a new one.

"Um...so what are you doing for the first task?" He asked as they entered the clothier.

Harry shrugged. "Just general training like we have been doing every morning, looking at strengths and weaknesses of Earth based creatures, that sort of thing."

Cedric nodded. That was similar to what he was doing, except for the ridiculous amount of work Harry called 'general' training.

"Any idea of what they're going to put in the tasks?" He asked. Harry had turned out to be remarkably knowledgeable this year, like he remembered everything that he saw or something like that. It was scary. Cedric considered himself of above average intelligence, but Harry seemed to be leaving him behind in that this year.

Harry thought for a moment, then shrugged. "No way to know for sure, but I would say some giant magical earth creature, maybe golems, 'cause they're well known earth magic, and we know about the dragon..." He shrugged again. "Can't think of much else."

Cedric nodded, and asked the shopkeeper for a copy of his dimensions, as he was going to get some armor commissioned. The shopkeeper seemed almost insulted that he was going to go to _another_ store for his clothing needs, but used a duplication spell to give it to him. Cedric gave Harry the list as soon as they left the store, and Harry smiled at him before he said "Good luck on Wednesday."

Cedric nodded. "You too." Harry smiled at him again and for the briefest moment Cedric felt a strange feeling in his chest. And then Harry was gone, walking towards the gates of the castle.

* * *

November 24

The four champions were led to the tent, not being able to see what exactly they were up against.

When they were told to get ready to go, Harry grabbed Cedric in a hug, ignoring the scrutiny of Fleur and the indifference of Krum.

"Its alright Harry." Cedric whispered soothingly. "I'll be fine, and so will you."

Harry nodded slightly, his throat tight, before turning slightly and looking forward, steadfastly trying to keep his gaze away from Cedric. He had started to care for the other bloke very quickly, and he didn't want to see him hurt in this barbaric form of entertainment. He had finished the armor yesterday, spending nearly twenty hours of work before giving it to Cedric this morning.

Bagman appeared in the tent soon after the official told them to get ready.

"Welcome, champions; to the first task of the Triwizard tournament." He called out cheerfully, obviously not noticing the mood of the champions.

He got several glares in return.

"Well…"he pulled on his collar nervously." The first task, or earth task is most basically an obstacle course through a series of raised earthen walls, provided to us by an expert team of earth elementals from Norway."

"They have created an obstacle course of sorts that we have filled with all sorts of beasts and traps for you to get around. Each path through the maze will allow you to interact with each of the challenges at different times."

He paused for a moment, most likely to get his breath. "Now, the goal of the challenge is to make your way to the end of your path and retrieve a golden egg from the dragon guarding it."

At that point, Harry's blood seemed to freeze. They had _dragons?_ They had dragons after all those other draining challenges? Were they bloody insane?

Bagman's voice gradually filtered back into his recognition. "Anyway, as long as you don't actually kill the dragon at the end, then you will receive full points; based on your place of course. If you permanently harm the Dragon or one of her real eggs, you will be docked at least twenty points out of fifty, so be careful about what spells you use to distract them."

"Now, when you hear the whistle, form up along the white line. You each have your own path assigned to you ahead of time, just look for your name above the path you are going to take.

He looked over all of them. Harry tried to paste a smile on his face as he followed the expressions of his fellow champions. Fleur looked like a ghost, murmuring to herself. Krum looked slightly…uncomfortable. Cedric looked gray, despite his trying to remain calm; and Harry himself felt a bit faint, so he knew his appearance was most probably quite like Cedric's.

The first whistle sounded, and without wasting a moment, the four of them made their way out of the tent to the plain white line marked out in front of them. Just as Bagman had said, there were four Pathways to take, each with one of their names above them. The walls were not that high, maybe only ten feet, but Harry could see that the ground was sloping downward into the darkness. That was just wonderful. He was willing to bet that the lighting would be horrible as well.

He looked towards Cedric one more time, seeing the reassurance in his gaze. Cedric would be fine. He had been learning magic for three additional years, and he been doing quite well in their daily exercises. He would be fine.

The whistle sounded for a second time, and Harry flew towards his entrance, wanting to get this task over with as soon as possible.

Author's note:

Updated 5/10/13

Neh, kind of a filler chapter I guess, but it did its job so that's ok.

As I said in chapter 6, the first task is going to largely remain the same as before, just a few changes that I need to make to the storyline so that it still works, along with some changes because I think they work better.

Besides that, thanks to those that are actually checking my story and reading the new chapters, I know that fanfiction says I haven't updated since before March, but that's just because I've been replacing the older chapters and not adding any new ones.


	9. Chapt 8 The Earth Task

Thanks to all of those that left reviews. Its funny, I had never seen the reason for them when reading other stories, but now I can see how it motivates me when you guys write, and it really does encourage me to keep on writing.

Anyway,hope you guys like it.

Ch8: The Earth task

Harry really hated being right.

As soon as he had entered the tunnel, the passageway had sealed shut behind him, leaving him in a near-darkness that did nothing to reassure him of the dangers that the task would bring.

_Lumos natat_ he whispered, mentally thanking his tutors for all the spells they had taught him. Like the _lumos _spell, _lumos natat _provided the caster with light. However, unlike _lumos, _it created a small ball of light that simply followed the caster and did not disappear until the caster themself spoke the counter-spell, _nox_. The best part, however, was that unlike _lumos, _it did not tie up the wand that it was cast from, allowing the caster to still cast other spells without losing their light. It was for this reason that the spell was a favorite of curse breakers and tomb raiders alike.

Harry kept on shifting his head from side to side, keeping all of his senses on alert. He was certain that the darkness was a key part of whatever first challenge he had. He stumbled, nearly falling over from a jutting piece of stone in the floor and barely being able to catch himself on the wall to his right. He felt his face flushing brightly, embarrassed that he had done that in front of the entire audience. Then he slapped himself mentally, telling himself that he did not need to think about them right now, nor care about them. He wouldn't make it through the challenge worrying about what the others could think, and seriously, he could care less about them. Why would he care about the opinions of a bigoted mass of sheep?

There was a slight smell of ozone in the air, like something was burning. He froze, willing more of his magic to the light to increase its brightness. Then he saw them.

With barely any warning, a mass of glowing insects leapt from the stone walls they had been living in. It was only a hastily erected _protego orbis_ that prevented them from giving him a nice healthy dose of venom. He shuddered minutely at the sight of them.

With the shield protecting him, he could examine the bugs a bit more carefully. His eyes widened. These were stoneflies!

Stoneflies, as their name suggested, were well known by curse breakers for living near ambient sources of magic and burrowing into the stone around them using their acidic venom. They used the stone as their home, a protection from predators. However, because of their venom, they were quite feared for their deadliness; a single one of them could produce enough venom to cut through to the bone of an unsuspecting wizard, a cut that would need to heal without magic, for it would only get worse with it.

Harry was greatly surprised to see such lethal monsters in the tournament, even with the warnings that they had been given. He was also a bit worried, if this was what the tournament organizers considered a relatively easy creature to get past, what did they think was a hard one. He nearly slapped himself when he remembered the Dragon at the end of the task. Right.

_Glacies_. He intoned mentally. The insects were frozen in an instant, falling to the floor and shattering. But Harry had already moved on, trying to make up for the time he had lost examining the Stoneflies.

As he moved along, he noticed that the air seemed to grow steadily slimier and wetter, like he was walking into a damp cave. His little light was still following him, providing the only light in this place. His eyes narrowed in memory of the chamber of secrets. This was exactly like the slide had felt on the way down.

It was only the angry hissing that prevented him from stepping into yet another trap. His eyes narrowed when he saw the snakes, but could not understand them at all. What was this magic? Someone or something was preventing him from using his parseltongue to talk to the snakes. Either that or they weren't real snakes...

The room itself was large and circular, and once again had the four names of the champions engraved over four separate paths. It looked like a massive amphitheater, like one would see in a building built in the Renaissance. The similarities stopped there though, as the room was completely filled with snakes and obstacles strewn throughout the room. It was nearly impossible to tell one snake from the other, as they all overlapped, hissing and fighting with each other as they moved around. He had to admit that the prospect of getting over the room was a bit daunting, at least for a normal wizard. But who ever said that Harry was normal?

He sent out a small pulse of magic and smirked slightly. Well, they weren't real, but they were certainly physical constructs. An idea popped into his head, one that most likely would not have appealed to a less rational wizard. These snakes were not real, they wouldn't even have venom if he knew the cheapskates that populated the ministry. They wouldn't be able to hurt him, unless they somehow started to choke him. Why not give the crowd a show while he was at it?

Harry took a deep breath, channeling his magic through his body. Even when Sifu had first described the process to him, nothing prepared him for the feeling of pure _power_ that rushed through his body. He looked to the closest obstacle, mentally gauging how far away it was, before backing up several steps to vanish his shoes and taking a running leap.

* * *

In the audience, there were several stands, but all of them had views to all four screens, one showing each of the challenges the champions were going through.

Cedric was on his first part, working on an earthen puzzle that held the key to opening the door in front of him. It was frustrating though, every time he though he had it, he messed up and needed to start all over. Unfortunately for him, he was not able to simply blast his way through the door, or even the walls around it, he would have to finish the puzzle to make his way forward.

Fleur was also still stuck on the first part of the task, a series of golems that refused to let her by were constantly firing spells at whatever cover she could find as she tried to find some way of getting past them. She was extremely annoyed at the fact that the one time she had not paid attention in her history classes, they had been covering golems and their weaknesses in battle, and now she had no idea how to defeat them other than to blast at their knees, which was not working at all, other than immobilizing them slightly.

Krum was currently on the second part after the snakes, having blasted through their ranks much like he was blasting away at his current targets. Sadly for him, his idea was not really working that well, as the massive sand wurms easily avoided his spells by burrowing into the sand filling his chamber. The only ones he had been able to destroy were those that had leaped at him in an effort to make him their next meal, and those braver ones were growing shorter and shorter in supply.

"My Word, what is Potter doing?" Bagman called out, his eyes nearly bulging as the entire audience shifted to see what he was talking about.

Harry had made it to the first obstacle of the room, landing on it with all the grace of a cat before jumping from one to the other as if they were mere inches apart. Not stopping for a moment, he was constantly moving, planning his path so that the snakes would not be able to tell where he was going and making sure that he would be able to land properly.

There was a final gap coming up, far too large for him to jump across, he wouldn't be able to do that normally. Unless...

His face turned into a cheshire cat grin as he pushed with all his might against the last rock, focusing his magic to his feet and willing them to stick to the surface of the wall as he ran alongside it. His audience watched, mouths gaping, as he used his momentum to push off of the wall and land on the final obstacle, then reach the end of the room, panting lightly. It wasn't until he finished the course that he realized a protego orbis would have worked just as well.

The audience watched as he slapped his forehead, making a few gestures with his wand before the shield appeared around him, then dissipated as he shook his head muttering under his breath, putting his shoes back on.

As he moved from the snake-pit, he noticed that the air seemed to be drying out, becoming hotter and harsher like he was in some kind of desert. He scrambled to think about the creatures found in desert like environments, and though that the only dangerous ones that he would have to fight would be sand-wurms, giant scorpions, or snakes. He knew though, that the snakes were already out, as he had faced them just before this part, so he was unsurprised when he entered the room and saw a great pile of sand that seemed completely empty.

The room itself was very low ceilinged, far too low if he wanted to try and levitate himself over whatever was in the pit. He would need to cross it on foot.

A few detection spells later revealed that there was a group of large creatures burrowed under the sand, and he sighed, knowing that with the Ministry's desire for drama and excitement, they had most definitely gone with sand-wurms. He cracked his neck slightly, eyeing the pile of sand as if it were a great ocean, and smirked as an idea came into mind.

Unknowing of the audience watching his every move with bated breaths, he took his wand and went through his spell options. From what he remembered, Sand-wurms tended to burrow under the sand during the day, hating the burning sun with a passion. They were very large creatures, some grew to be about half as long as the basilisk he had faced in the chamber of secrets. Their bodies were often a mottled combination of brown and peachy hues, and looked rather like those of oversized earthworms. The main difference between these wurms and their non-magical cousins was that while they looked similar, their aggressiveness and fearsome needle-like teeth made them very deadly predators, up there with nundus and cockatrices.

But if the surface of the sand was too hot, then the wurms would not want to come up. At least in theory.

Harry gestured with his wand, making it look like he was using a spell while he was really using his earth element(his secondary element) to solidify a straight path to the other side of the room. With that done, he used Arcturus' energy technique to draw from the air, letting it fill him until he felt his body nearly groaning with the strain. With a sharp gesture, he concentrated making the fire come from near the tip of his wand, rapidly expanding in a cone of fire that seared across every surface of the sand.

As those in the stands watched with confusion, he took his shoes off and applied a few spells to the soles of his trainers, making sure to protect them against the heat that was making the air around him hazy. It didn't bother him too much though. Fire was his strongest element, water was his weakest, only really used to help him move faster and enhance his splashes at the beach. It could be improved, but he was mostly focused on his fire and earth elements, wanting to master them first.

With the spells applied, he cast the detection spell to see the creatures had burrowed even further under the sand, just as he'd hoped. He took a deep breath and then started to run across the path, reaching the door in only ten seconds. Unfortunately, the door was locked, and as he tried to open it, he felt a surge of cold move through the room, countering the heat he had used against the surface of the sand.

Harry looked around, controlling his panic. There was a shelf across the room, holding a small statuette that looked like it was needed to open the door. He cast a summoning charm, eyeing the surface of the sand warily, and had to release the spell to protect himself from the first worm that leaped out at him, casting a protego impediendam, or obstruction shield, that the worm crashed into before falling to the ground, stunned.

He desperately cast another summoning charm, and another, cursing as another sand-wurm worked up the courage to attack him. This was starting to get annoying!

With an anger powered banishing spell, the second wurm's spine snapped, the wurms below it devouring it whole. Harry grimaced at the sight and the smell but continued to power his summoning spell, nearly screaming in frustration when he saw the now glowing grounding runes surrounding the statuette. They would prevent any magic directly affecting the statuette. He thought furiously, trying to find a way to grab it without levitating or summoning it. Something like a net… He smiled when he realized what he had to do.

After blasting yet another one of the sand-wurms, he conjured a beam of steel and formed it into a spear like object, using his magic to launch it into the wall next to the statuette. Brandishing his wand, he forced the metal to change shape, surrounding the statuette completely. After dispatching a third, then a fourth wurm, he summoned the metal, and with it the statuette.

He quickly removed the film of metal and placed the statuette into the doorway. It glowed briefly before vanishing, allowing Harry to continue.

* * *

The next part of the task was in a small room that only had a series of earthen slabs and statues within circles along with a pedestal. As Harry made his way closer, he saw that the pedestal had a miniature model of the statues and slabs, and realized that the pedestal was what controlled whatever this was.

When he reached the pedestal, he noticed there was a small note, written in parchment.

_In this room, you do not need to blast your way through obstacles or monsters. Instead, this is a test of_

_your wit and thinking. You are given control of this pedestal, to move the statues so that they are all_

_aligned towards the door-_

Harry looked at the statues again, and noted that they was no way to align them without stopping them somehow.

_-To stop the statues, you need to activate certain sets of slabs in order to impede their progress. To do_

_so, touch one of the three crystals, and a set of slabs will come out of the ground in a certain position._

_Good luck_

Harry sighed slightly, then turned the small dial next to the crystals experimentally. He was immediately gratified when the statues moved in a clockwise direction.

He did it again, and watched as one of the statues was held in place by one of the slabs, while the other statues went on unimpeded. He saw the trick immediately.

In order to get this to work, he first needed to align the statues altogether. That by itself would take some careful planning, or just a lot of rotation and some luck.

As he worked, his mind briefly strayed to thoughts about how Cedric was doing, and if he had faced the sand-wurms yet. He ruthlessly stomped the thoughts out of his mind, focusing all of his attention on the task at hand. Cedric would be fine, he had to be.

After about fifteen minutes of rotating the statues around, he was getting frustrated. He switched crystals once more and moved the statues, and then sighed in relief as they all fell into line. The hard part was done.

Now all that was left was for him to shift the statues around, moving the slabs so that none of them impeded their progress. He grinned as the statues were lined up, and he was allowed through the door. That hadn't been too-

He quickly cast a shield as a high powered spell flew right at him. He grunted a bit as three more spells of equal power struck his shield, forcing him back slightly. It was worrying just how _powerful_ those spells had been.

He gestured toward the ground with his wand, pulling up a wall of earth while simultaneously inscribing the surface with countless strengthening and magic grounding runes. Several more blasts struck his makeshift barrier, and though it shuddered slightly, it held firm. He took a quick peek, spotting two of the golems before ducking down as three spells hit his earthen shield. _So there are three._

He looked up again and saw that the golems were moving very slowly, which meant that they would be very powerful and difficult to destroy. As a test, he threw a _bombarda_ at one of them, and was not surprised when the thing stood still, the magic grounding runes flaring as they sent the power into the ground. He fired several spells, looking for a weakness, but nothing happened to the golems when they were hit, other than standing still for a few seconds.

_Standing still…_

Thinking quickly, Harry created another earthen wall, this one about twice his width and three fourths his height. He quickly cast the strengthening runes, but altered the grounding runes slightly so that they released the energy into the air instead of the ground. He then added a series of lightening runes, and created a handle for his left hand. A spell hit his shield, but it did its job and dissipated the energy before it could do any damage.

Harry stood up, feeling another spell hit his makeshift shield. He gave a quick look out from behind his shield before ducking after another volley of spells nearly hit him. He looked again, and noted that all three golems were in his sight, and advancing on him. He sent out three _reductos,_ moving quickly as the golems were temporarily frozen. They fired at him again and he shielded, then fired again, moving closer to the door.

He repeated the process several times, getting closer and closer to the door, and felt a trickle of apprehension when he realized the other golems were trying to force him in this direction. He quickly formed another wall of stone in the direction of the doorway, but before he could strengthen it, it was blown apart by a spell.

Harry cried out as several of the rocks struck him, but was relatively unharmed, thanks to his armor. He dodged to the right as the fourth golem fired on him again, then followed up with an overpowered _reducto _that hit the golem in the chest. He ran past it as it took several seconds to drain the magic, and shielded as yet another blasting spell ploughed into his shield. He fired another overpowered_ reducto_ to freeze the golem before he ran out of the room, panting harshly.

The door shut behind him, and Harry heard the sound of a spell slamming into the door before it was quiet. He leaned against the wall, his breath coming out in short bursts. That had been ridiculous! There was no way that the other champions could be expected to beat something that difficult. He had only been able to pass it because of the shields he had created, and even with his advanced senses he had been taken by surprise by the fourth golem.

After a minute or so of rest, Harry got back up, deciding that he could worry about the possibility of someone making the tournament more difficult for him later.

As he moved through the passageway he noticed that there were plants starting to grow on the walls. The foliage continued to grow deeper until he felt like he was wading through it. He kept his eyes peeled for predators and other animals, but could not sense nor see anything that might be a threat to him. It brought his hackles up. Something was in this room, there had to be for it to be a challenge, but he could see nothing but green and shades of brightly colored flowers.

The air was growing more humid as he moved on, and Harry stumbled slightly over a root, falling to the ground. Shaking his suddenly clouded head, he pushed himself up, and headed into the room.

The room itself was very similar to that of the one with the snakes. As Harry entered, he noticed three other paths that opened right next to his, and realized that this was another one of the rooms that the champions would have to face a common task in. He took in a deep breath, feeling another sudden bout of lightheadedness that did not feel natural in the slightest. He felt his eyes closing, and lazily glanced around the chamber, seeing a familiar bloom of orange flowers that were listed as dangerous.

A slight shot of adrenaline shot through him at the memory of that entry, and he frowned, not knowing why. He took in another deep breath, reveling in how wonderful the air tasted as he glanced back at the flowers once again. Then his eyes shot open as he remember what that entry had said. He tried to clear the fog around his mind as best as he could, holding his breath. With a muttered spell, his head was surrounded by a clear sphere, allowing him to breath in fresh air.

He took several breaths, slowly regaining his clarity of mind. He felt something probe at his leg, and his eyes shot open to a small tendril wrapped around his ankle. With widened eyes, he cast a severing curse at it, cutting off the tendril and feeling the ground shudder as he did so. Almost immediately he was surrounded by a forest of vines and tendrils. He enclosed himself in a shield, just in time for several tendrils to try and wrap around him. They slipped around the shield, and he breathed in relief at the fact that the shield had kept him safe. He remembered what this was now.

All of these things managed to confirm his suspicion, and found what he was looking for. The great orange bloom of flowers seemed to come straight out of the earth, and when he looked closely, he could see the tendrils attached to it. _Angel's snare._

Angel's snare was a cousin to the Devil's snare, though it was very different in its methods of capturing prey. Unlike the Devils Snare, Angels Snare preferred light, and was resistant to fire. On the other side of that, it was very weak against cold.

But its main difference from its cousin was its ability to secrete airborne pheromones that calmed its prey and made it fall asleep. It was a very effective method, one that Harry had almost been taken by. He scowled as he thought of that moment of weakness.

He knew that this was meant to be a challenge for all four champions, and did not know if anyone else had been able to make it through this challenge, but he did not want any of the other champions to fall victim to it, damn his hero complex.

_Glacies_. He whispered, allowing the unnatural frost to spread from his wand and into the plant life around him. He watched as the frost slowly spread through the room, killing every living plant. He was taking no chances.

He had nearly finished when Cedric burst into the room, limping slightly with his eyes wide. He seemed to calm when he saw Harry, and moved toward him much like that creepy old man moody.

Harry shuddered mentally at the thought. Every time he was around the man, he felt uneasy, like something prickling around his skin. Adena didn't seem to like him much either, complaining of how he always tasted of potions ingredients. Most likely antidotes, knowing how paranoid the old Auror was said to be.

Harry quickly ran towards him and grabbed Cedric around the middle. Cedric nearly toppled at the sudden force, but managed to steady himself, smiling at Harry's expression of relief.

"You all right?" He asked.

Harry looked rather pointedly at Cedric's leg, then himself, then back at Cedric.

"What? I can't tell if you're about to die from poison or something can I?" he asked rhetorically.

Harry rolled his eyes and kneeled to get a better look at Cedric's ankle. It looked like it was sprained. He aimed his wand in preparation to heal him, then stopped as Cedric grabbed his wrist and whispered. "Remember we can't cast spells on each other."

Harry growled softly before getting back up. "Fine, but for the record I could have done it."

Cedric rolled his eyes. "I never said you couldn't do it Harry, just that it would break the rules in this task.

Harry mock-glowered at him before pointedly turning up his nose in a false huff, overdramatizing it for Cedric's humor. The older teen looked somewhat pale from pain and blood loss, and Harry thought that he needed a good cheering up.

"At least we only have the dragon left." Harry said out loud, slowly leading the hobbling Hogwarts champion out of the room.

Cedric snorted. "Oh, how easy that will be, much easier than getting past those sand-wurms I think."

"It won't be half as hard as that." Harry mock-scoffed as he looked Cedric in the eye. There was a pause, and then they both burst out laughing at the absurdness of it.

"Vhat are you too doing?" a rough voice asked. Harry whirled around wand at the ready, to see a somewhat amused looking Victor Krum. He sheepishly lowered his wand, shrugging. "Just thinking about how nice the dragon will be after all of this."

Krum gave him a flat look before he started moving toward the next room, shaking his head in what appeared to be exasperation.

Harry nearly dashed after him, then remembered Cedric and went to help him move faster. The sooner they finished the sooner Cedric could get his leg healed.

"Harry, what are you doing?"

"Helping my fellow champion of course, what does it look like I'm doing?" Harry replied cheekily, trying to move a bit faster but not able to because of Cedric's leg.

"Not winning the event?" Cedric asked a bit confusedly.

Harry waved a negligent hand in dismissal. "Please, I don't care about the tasks at all, I just want to get all of us out of here alive."

"But the prize money..." Cedric stammered.

Harry gave a curt shake of his head. "Not interested in it, I have more than enough, same for the 'eternal glory'. I just want to get this tournament done with so I can go back home."

Cedric opened his mouth, about to ask why he would leave Britain again, but was interrupted by the very loud roar that seemed to shake them to their bones. It sounded angry, _very_ angry.

Conversation forgotten, they moved as fast as they could, Cedric's limp far more pronounced, and came into the room to see Victor shooting spells at the Dragon's eyes, the only known weak spot for dragons besides the mouth. The dragon itself was large and either a very dark brown or black, massive enough to shake the ground when it landed back on all fours. But the most frightening thing about this dragon was the massive spines located all over its body, especially the tail, which looked like a gigantic spiky club.

"Horntail." Harry breathed in disbelief. The Ministry hadn't just got an average dragon for the task, no they just had to get one of the most dangerous dragons in the world. Of all the incompetent-

**-DARE YOU COME AND ATTACK ME PUNY HUMAN! YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR ME AND MY MATE! WE WILL CRUSH YOUR SPINE AND FEED OFF YOUR HEART FOR YOUR OFFENSE! **The dragon roared loudly, making Harry wince as he held his hands over his ears.

**I AM A DRAGON YOU PITIFUL LITTLE WIZARD! YOUR SPELLS CANNOT HURT ME! **The dragon screeched again and clawed at Krum, who was barely able to move out of the way of the chained beast.

"Get Krum to stop casting." Harry whispered to Cedric. and then moved right at the dragon. He had been surprised when he had been able to understand it, given that he had not been able to do the same with the snakes, but he wasn't going to complain about his good fortune.

**STOP! **He shouted as soon as Cedric made it over to Krum, waving his arms to get the dragon's attention.

Cedric was trying to pull Krum away from the Horntail, whispering to him. Krum looked at him in disbelief when Cedric said that they would let him grab his egg first, but to let Harry calm the dragon down. He nodded in agreement, for now.

**WHO IS THIS THAT DARES TRY TO ORDER ME!** The dragon roared, both eyes fixed directly on Harry.

**A DRACKEN WANTING TO PROTECT HIS FRIENDS! **Harry shouted back, though it sounded much like a roar to the others in the room.

The dragon seemed surprised at that statement, then narrowed its eyes back at him. **YOU LIE! THEY WERE KILLED MANY CYCLES BEFORE I WAS EVEN BORN!**

Harry made a small series of gestures that covered his body in a glamour that only affected Wizards, then ripped off his shirt and concentrated on his hybrid form. He smirked at the expression that could only be surprise that was covering the dragon's face as it sat on it's rump, making the ground quake slightly. Harry quickly transformed back, removing the glamour a split second later.

**I thought that the mighty Drackens had all been killed. **The dragon spoke much more softly this time, looking at him with a sense of both relief and something else. She got a gleam in her eye that made Harry slightly nervous.

* * *

In the stands, the audience was waiting with bated breaths. It looked like Harry was speaking to the dragon in some way, and by whatever he was saying, the dragon wasn't very happy.

Out of nowhere, he shucked off his shirt and his armor, and the audience grumbled in confusion when nothing happened, the boy was just staring at the dragon.

Whatever doing that had meant, it had sure calmed the dragon, it was only looked at Harry in what seemed to be surprise and evaluation, expressions not considered to be normal for a sub-intelligent 'beast'.

Then out of nowhere, the dragon bounded forward, looking like it was about to bite his head off.

Many of the spectators screamed and turned away, but some others were laughing. Those that had hidden their faces went to glare at those that dared to laugh at the death of one of the champions, when they caught sight of the view-screens and saw that instead of attacking Harry, the dragon was _licking _him.

* * *

Cedric was trying very hard not to laugh, but it was impossible. The look of shock on Harry's face when the dragon had pounced on him had been priceless; wide eyes and an "eep" included. Though, he had to admit, the dragon's tongue did not look like it was much fun to be licked with.

* * *

Harry was going to kill Cedric for laughing at him in a moment like this!

The Dragon had him pinned to the ground, not hurting him or crushing him but keeping just enough weight on him so that he could not escape her sandpaper tongue. He was absolutely covered in Dragon slobber, and even if he scourgified himself he was certain he would still feel it all over him. He dared not open his mouth, for fear that he would get slobber down his throat.

Eventually, the dragon stopped licking him and sat back down on her haunches.

**So what is it that you have come to me for, Master Dracken?** she asked, amused by his annoyed expression as he started to clean off the slobber. He glowered at her, knowing she had done it just to annoy him.

**We are required to retrieve the false eggs within your nest, oh mighty dragon, but I promise that no harm will come to the others. **Harry responded, putting a little sarcasm in the words 'mighty dragon' that went unnoticed. Apparently dragons didn't do sarcasm, who knew?

The dragoness looked into her nest, and for the first time was able to see the four golden eggs that did not belong. She roared in anger. **HOW DARE THEY DEFILE MY NEST?**

Harry stepped back involuntarily, wincing at the anger in her voice. But he could not blame her. Family was sacred, anyone attempting to harm Sirius or Remus would be torn apart before they even got close. He felt the transformation itching under his skin at the mere thought of it.

Refocusing on the dragoness, he held up his hands placatingly. **Great lady, I know how this must anger you, but I beg you to calm down. The wizards are not trying to harm you or your young, you were brought here as part of a series of disgusting games, games that I was also forced to participate in. **He paused. **I am sorry for the idiocy of these people, but I can do nothing to dissuade them from such foolishness, as I am only a hatchling compared to them. And for that, I am sorry.**

She seemed to calm a bit at his admission, but still looked quite angry. Her eyes focused directly on him before she growled softly. **You may all take the pretenders from my nest, then you may leave. **she motioned towards a doorway Harry had failed to notice before.

Harry bowed slightly **Thank you, my lady….Just so you know, there is one more who would come to take an egg, a female with hair like starlight. **The dragon nodded, and he scratched her chin softly before moving to the nest to grab two eggs, one for him and one for Cedric.

As he walked back to the Hogwarts Champion, he noticed that Krum was staring at him calculatingly, then wondered if the seeker knew he had cast a glamour. The wand movements, though subtle, were obvious to someone that was well trained in them. The Durmstrang champion didn't say anything though, simply nodding at Harry and slowly moving to grab the egg from the Dragon's nest.

He flushed slightly at the nearly blatant staring Cedric was giving him,and nearly shoved the egg into his arms, hissing "We're being watched!" as his face reddened in embarrassment. Cedric's face quickly turned a bright red before he discreetly changed his expression to that of admiration at either Harry's bravery or luck, before nodding at him and moving towards the doorway. Harry quickly moved to help him, balancing the egg in his right arm while his left supported the other champion. He felt the adrenaline and fear that had been coursing through his body slowly fade away, leaving only tired muscles. Still, it felt good that he had made it through, that he had defeated the challenge.

He paused for a moment, remembering a strange look in Cedric's eyes after he had talked down the dragon. Why had the other boy been staring at him like that?

And why did it make him feel both vaguely pleased and uncomfortable at the same time?

* * *

After receiving their scores,(46 for Harry and 41 for Cedric, as Karkaroff was beyond biased) as well as Harry quickly healing Cedric's ankle, they quickly made their way towards the castle to get away from the massive crowd coming to congratulate them.

It was more than likely that the fickle sheep would see Harry's performance and give him either more hero-worship or start to fear his power. _Again._

Honestly, as soon as he reached the threshold of the castle, he was going straight to the chamber of secrets for a nap, he was completely exhausted, and he knew that Cedric would most likely go do the same as soon as they parted.

He felt so relieved that the other boy was alright, more than he should have for someone he barely knew, but he wasn't going to question that right now, the rush of energy that had been moving through his body was gone, and the stress and magic drain was taking a further toll on his body. Harry said goodbye to Cedric at the entrance to the Great Hall before he quickly cast a disillusionment charm and flashed down to the chamber. He fell asleep with an exhausted smile on his face, glad that no one, and especially not Cedric, was hurt. Adena, who had been staying in the chamber for the entirety of the task, lightly coiled herself next to him for warmth, glad that her master was alright.

* * *

Dumbledore was furious.

He had been one of those to set up the course for the four champions, and had used that as a chance to increase the difficulty of the task for Potter so that he would be injured enough to have an imperioused Poppy Pomfrey look at him and heal him, along with feeding him several control potions that would have finally brought the blasted boy to heel! But the thrice-damned-boy had made it through the task with nary a scratch!

And then there was the Hogwarts champion, Diggory. He had been injured by the task, but had been healed by Potter once they were out of the first task and thus not affected by the rule of not casting spells on each other, allowing him to refuse Poppy's treatment. He still had no idea where Harry was even sleeping, and had set the portraits to find out, yet for some reason they never had anything to report on Harry's whereabouts. Which meant that he was in a location where there were no portraits.

What he didn't realize was that like his father before him, Harry was the Heir of Gryffindor, meaning that the castle would never rat on him. If anything, the castle would try to keep Dumbledore away from him as much as possible.

Dumbledore sat back in his throne like office chair and sighed deeply even as he seethed at the injustice of it all. He was the most powerful wizard in the world, he had eliminated all opposition to his power through manipulation and outright assassination. Tom Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort, he-who-must-not-be-named, You-Know-Who, and the Dark Lord, had been one of his experiments. He had tried to deprive Tom of any love and caring in his life, go so far as to place enragement charms and other compulsions on the children of the orphanage to force them to attack the boy. All to mold the boy into the perfect weapon for his own use.

But instead of being the powerful, yet malleable little boy he had expected, Tom had turned out to be coldhearted and cruel, yet charismatic enough to attract followers throughout his house. He had resisted every manipulation Dumbledore had tried, much like Harry was doing now.

He sighed again. Well, at least Tom had done something right by killing some of the Muggles. There were far too many of them into the world, and they posed a threat to wizardkind because of the outrageous number advantage they had. He wished more than anything to have the rest of the muggles under wizard control, only some kept alive as a method of introducing just enough new blood into the lines to avoid inbreeding. But for now, it was not to be.

He glanced at the heavily warded drawer within his desk in which resided the famous philosopher's stone. He had taken it from the Flamels and obliviated them of the incident. They could always make another anyway, and he didn't really care if they died. They actually liked the muggles! It was completely absurd

Shuddering slightly in disgust at the thought of muggle lovers such as those fools, he clasped his hands together while resting them on the desk, wondering what else he could do to get the errant Mr. Potter back under his control.

Authors Notes:

Updated 5/10/13

I confess to completely stealing the idea of the puzzle from Legend of Zelda, Skyward Sword, but I just had to have it, it was such a fun puzzle, if a bit frustrating at first.


	10. Chapt 9 The Yule Ball

First I wanted to say that I was sorry for the time that it took to update this story, but I was not able to work on the computer that much. To tell the truth, I finished this chapter mostly by writing fifteen or so pages on a notebook, written every morning of my vacation while everyone else was asleep.

Thank you for all of the positive reviews you guys have been giving me, they really do help me continue writing!

And for those of you who keep on griping about Harry being submissive. I chose that as a relative term, as I have Harry being the one to carry the children, but guessing by all the people who keep on complaining about it, I was mistaken to do that. Just because he is the one bearing the children does not make him all weak and a pushover. If anything, he is the hot-headed possessive type(as you can see in the beginning of this chapter), the one who goes rushing into a fight while Cedric is the voice of reason.

I hope that this (finally) clears it up for you guys.

Now that I've done my little rant; I hope you guys like it, even if it is a bit long.

Oh, and to mrgunsage: if you think my version of Dumbledore is twisted then you should see the story Partially Kissed Hero by Perfect Lionheart, that Dumbledore makes mine look like a boy scout.

Ch9: The Yule Ball

December 17th

Second Floor

Harry nearly snarled as yet another empty headed girl bounced up to him and asked if he would go to the ball with her. He gritted his teeth as he gave a forceful _no!_ and moved off to find Cedric.

By his ancestor this was annoying! Ever since McGongagall had announced the Yule Ball, which he was 'required as a champion to attend', he had been swamped by giggling girls as young as second year asking if he would go to the ball with them. And those were the brave ones! He could see the others watching him from the shadows like a horde of demons waiting to pounce on him and devour his soul. And he was not exaggerating when he said that, the looks they were giving him were just plain creepy.

It felt like nearly every girl in the school had their eyes on him as a date, like being his date was some kind of trophy that could be bragged about to their housemates. It was disgusting, the way that they simpered at him and fluttered their eyelashes in their horrible attempts to act coy. The older girls kept on trying to give him views of their breasts, but for what reason he had no idea. Even if he had liked girls he would have been put off by the way that they were throwing themselves at him.

Even worse was the fact that many of those girls were from the Hufflepuff dorms.

He and Cedric had, reluctantly, decided to give the house of badgers another chance, after they had spent several weeks after the first task trying to apologize for their behavior. Harry could see how much it hurt Cedric to be separate from his housemates, no matter how much he denied it, and it had been he who encouraged the older boy to give them a chance, even if it came at the loss of his peace of mind.

They still slept in the come and go room though, Harry was nowhere near willing enough to give up their room. It was the only true sanctuary they had in the school, the only place they could be free of the crowds of people trying to get on his good side so that they could be seen with the Boy-who-lived. It made him sick. Forget sheep, the students in the school seemed little better than simpering sycophants.

And Cho Chang. His form seemed to waver at the thought of her. Unlike the rest of the girls that all seemed to go after him (somehow he knew it was not that much of an exaggeration) she had attached herself to Cedric's side like a limpet, clinging to his arm and trying to wear him down into taking her to the ball. Every time it happened, Cedric made a point of politely telling her no, and gently pushing her away. But she was so damn persistent!

Harry brushed another girl off that had moved in as soon as he had rejected the last one. Many of the other guys were looking at him in disbelief for rejecting several _well endowed_ choices, and others looked angry and jealous that he was getting all the girls. Seriously, they could have them. Harry wanted nothing to do with them. He just wanted to find Cedric and get out of this mess. A few seconds later he spotted Cedric's blonde-brown hair and quickly made his way towards him.

He stopped though, and growled lowly when he saw _her_ attached to his mate's side. _Again! _Cedric had a look of discomfort on his face, and Harry was itching to throw the girl off of him. Cedric was trying to get her to leave him alone, to go find someone else to go to the ball with, but she refused to listen, holding onto his arm like a vice and fluttering her eyelashes at him flirtatiously.

He growled, ready to turn around and talk to Cedric later when she did it. She kissed Cedric right on the lips, without any permission or desire for it on Cedric's side.

Even though Cedric pushed her away and looked to Harry furtively, he was too slow to stop him from throwing Cho away with a roar of anger and a burst of air elemental magic. A surge of possessiveness flowed through him. Cedric was _his _mate! No two-faced simpering slut was going to try and take away _his _mate!

There was silence in the halls as Harry stalked up to her and snarled into her face. "Stay away from him! He doesn't want you! A blind man could see that!"

Cho, though terrified of Harry, whose eyes had turned to slits without his knowing, managed a weak sneer. "And who could he want instead of me, I'm the most desired girl in the school!" she bragged. She was not going to gain any sympathy from the other girls now, that was for sure.

Harry snorted at her proclamation; _sluttiest girl more like_, then stopped and gave Cedric a glance that held within it an entire conversation. Cedric nodded, though a bit tentatively, and Harry smiled to encourage him.

They were tired of all the idiots trying to snag them for the ball. They were tired of having to hide their relationship from the entire school, and now was as good a time as any to come out, so that they would finally be left alone. _And be able to see if the puffs really meant what they said when they apologized._ Harry thought a bit bitterly, still angry with the students that had turned on him for being a creature, something he could not help.

Cedric came over and placed his hand onto Harry's shoulder before turning him and giving him a passionate kiss in front of the entire hall. To say that it was silent was an understatement. It seemed as if the entire room had been petrified with shock.

The two didn't really notice though, so caught up in their kiss that the outside world seemed to fade away until it was just them.

Cho let out a shriek of outrage as she leapt towards them and knocked them to the floor, trying to claw at Harry's face. Cedric cried out as his head crashed against the stone floor, bleeding slightly and in no condition to stop Harry as he curled up cradling his head.

With a roar of rage much reminiscent of the Horntail, Harry pushed her off harshly and made a gesture with his gauntleted hand, lifting Cho up by her throat while not actually touching her. He touched the cut on his cheek with a finger and pulled away, seeing the bright red of his blood and staring at it with an almost curious fascination. Cho was struggling against her invisible bonds, hands still out and moving as if she were still trying to claw him with her sharp nails. With an animalistic snarl he threw her down the hallway before unleashing the spiders from null-space to keep the crowd from getting too close. He did not wince in the slightest when she hit the wall with a loud crack and fell unconscious. She deserved it.

With that, his eyes softened as he refocused his gaze on his mate. He gently removed Cedric's hands and held his head tenderly in his hand. He pushed his magic into the gauntlets and watched as a stream of glowing gold seemed to seep from his fingers and into Cedric's head. Cedric sighed in relief as the pain went away, the slight cracks in his skull healing rapidly.

Harry helped him up, looking concerned when Cedric staggered from dizziness.

"Mr. Potter! What is the meaning of this!" yelled a voice that by itself nearly made him snarl. Of all the times….

He turned around slowly, still helping Cedric stand while glaring at the conceited old man right outside of the ring of spiders. They began to click menacingly at their creator's anger.

"I warned you Mr. Potter that if you attacked students unprovoked I would have you removed!" Dumbledore spoke as though he was angry, but there was a smug tone nearly hidden in his words.

Harry scoffed. Loudly. "So you believe I attacked unprovoked do you?" "Does the fact that Cedric can barely stand.."

"I can stand just…" Cedric silenced himself at the look Harry gave him that said he was being stupid.

He turned back to Dumbledore. "As I was saying, Cedric can barely stand because that…would-be seductress could not stand the fact that Cedric was not hers for the taking." He then pointed to his face. "Not to mention her attempt to claw at my face."

He returned the smug tone to Dumbledore. "This entire hall was witness to the fact that _Cho_ attacked us first, harming my mate in the process." "She is the one who is guilty, not me…"

He looked at Cedric for a second, then turned to Dumbledore. "If you'll excuse us, I'd rather Cedric be able to lie down for a bit while he healed."

Dumbledore's eyes flashed triumphantly. "Very well then Mr. Potter, I will escort you both to the Hospital wing." He was so obvious it wasn't even funny.

Well, maybe it was, as Harry burst out laughing. "If you think I will let Cedric be under the 'tender mercies' of a woman who in my three years of schooling failed to notice my rather obvious malnutrition, you are mistaken old man, I will heal him myself."

He turned his back to Dumbledore (whom he doubted would try and cast something on him with this many witnesses) and set the spiders to clear a path for them through the crowd of gawkers. Thankfully for them, they were on the second floor, which gave them a good place as an decoy for where they were sleeping.

Harry quickly led Cedric to Myrtle's bathroom, followed by their entourage of nearly all the students that had witnessed the fight and Dumbledore himself. With an annoyed sounding sigh, he ordered the spiders to start moving closer to the spectators and prevent them from following him into the bathroom.

Once he closed the door behind them, he checked to make sure Myrtle was not in the bathroom before disillusioning them and flashing to the entrance of the room of requirement.

As he had suspected, the majority of the students had been near the second and third floors, and there was no-one around the entrance to the room. He quickly took them inside.

After getting Cedric into bed and arguing over him needing to get some rest, Harry eventually got fed up with the stubborn boy and cast a _somnus_ to put him to sleep. He winced when he realized he may have overpowered it a bit, but knowing that Cedric really needed his rest justified it for him. He knew Cedric would understand once he woke up. He also used the opportunity to look over him and make sure he had no brain damage from slamming into the floor like that. Thankfully, he did not have any lasting damage, and Harry relaxed with the knowledge as he left Cedric to sleep.

Not wanting to go out of the room into the arms of the army of students outraged or soon to be outraged with the news of his relationship with Cedric, Harry decided to continue working on a project he had imagined after he had first been ousted by the Daily Prophet as a 'Dark Creature'. The idea of having a magical object directly and only powered by the crystals.

The crystals themselves could be made out of anything really, provided that it was some form of earthen material. This material would be transformed through a series of spells and alchemic circles, something that Harry still had trouble understanding the technicalities of. The only thing he could change through the growth of the crystals was _how much_ they grew. This amount tended to vary depending on the power used and to a lesser extent, the material used. He had found that it worked best with what the muggles called alkaline metals, particularly those with the highest molar masses.

But his understanding didn't matter, as long as he was able to create the crystals he was happy.

No, the real problem with the crystals was that while they were constantly gathering energy(up until a certain saturation point) the rate that they absorbed it was directly proportional to the amount of energy around them.

Harry had been allowing every single crystal he had that wasn't saturated to charge within the room. Hogwarts was full of energy, magical and otherwise. It did not matter what energy the crystals took in as long as they took it and stored it. And the best part was that even with all of the crystals charging, they would not affect the Hogwarts wards at all, they charged slow enough that he doubted they would be full by the end of the school year.

He had been thinking about the problem with the charging of the crystals, and the only plausible solution to have them charge within a few days was to somehow place them in a extremely high energy area such as the low corona of the sun(astronomy had been one of his favorite subjects to read when hiding in the library from his cousin during recess). Of course, there were several problems with that idea.

First and foremost was how the crystals were going to get there, and how they would stay in place. He wasn't sure, but when he had worked with spells such as _pulso_ or the push spell, he believed that there was some kind of particle pushing whatever target was chosen away from the caster. Of course, his knowledge of particles and their physics was rather limited, given that all he had to go by was the few books he had devoured and memorized on the subjects in his rare free time.

If he could somehow figure out how to have a set of crystals linked to using a certain kind of spell, he would be able to have some kind of structure powered by the crystals, like a interconnected ring, that used the incredible amounts of energy from the low corona to keep the crystals at a constant distance from the sun. The 'charging station' for lack of a better word, would also need some kind of shielding for just the off chance that a solar flare was able to strike it, not to mention other debris that the sun might be able to pull in.

An even more important concern was: How would the crystals get from the sun all the way to earth? It was an incredible distance, one that Harry was certain no Portkey, no matter how powerful, would be able to reach. And said method of transportation would need to be reusable, so that he would be able to exchange the crystals quickly and reliably.

Harry groaned at all the information he was trying to keep straight. It was too much to worry about. First things first, he needed to focus on incorporating the push charm into the ring.

He frowned briefly, then shrugged. Why not start now? He had nothing else to do anyway, given that he often finished the weekly work his tutors gave him within a couple of hours.

When he had first incorporated the stinging hex into the spiders, it had consisted of several parts to the runic sequence. Every spell had these components. For example, the stinging hex needed a target and to cause a slight amount of pain from being hit with it.

Using runes to ensure the object would levitate on its own, now that would be a bit harder. Firstly, he needed to make the magical channels….no scratch that, he first needed to make the ring.

He sketched it out in his mind, thinking firstly of the size of the ring, then of the half inch thick spokes radiating from the center. After that, there were other bars of material interlocking the different spokes, so that the circle looked much like a spiderweb, kind of ironic given his love for the spider constructs.

Then, he envisioned the runic scheme he wanted to use. Strengthening and lightening runes were to be engraved along the edges to reduce the amount of energy needed to keep the system floating. Caster runes would be placed radially in the middle of the outer ring, spaced equally to make sure that the force they gave off would be balanced. He then designed slots for four medium crystals( the ones in his gauntlets) in the center of the device.

He mentally checked his design once more, and then he flashed to the Hogwarts lake to grab some stones. He found several sufficiently large enough for the circle, each about four feet in width and two to three in height, then threw them into his null space and flashed back to the room directly, which was possible now that Cedric was occupying it.

After removing the first stone, he let his power seep into it, envisioning the shape of the ring he wanted. He watched as a series of lines seemed to move over the stone, radiating from a center point. The bowl shaped stone was then cut from the rock, and Harry took a moment to make sure it was what he had wanted.

Next he engraved the magical channels for the energy, making sure to widen them and add runes to the outer edges to ensure their strength.

Then the rest of the runic patterns were engraved on the stone spiderweb / bowl.

Harry, seeing the object looked just as he had wanted it to, gingerly placed four crystals into the device. He had to duck as the device, instead of going up, threw itself in his direction and crashed into the wall. Even when it hit the wall, it did not take any damage, instead it flipped over and continued moving back in his direction. Thinking desperately, Harry levitated the crystals from the device and watched as the stone construct dropped to the ground, the life cut from it.

He slowly walked over to it and sighed. This was going to take some time to figure out.

December 18

Come and Go Room

Cedric woke up feeling completely rested, and for a moment was completely unsure of how he had fallen asleep so quickly. He was more than a bit annoyed when he realized that Harry had forced him to go to sleep, but as he saw and felt Harry curled around him, he realized that he had been acting really stupid, and that Harry only did it for his well-being.

That being said, it didn't mean Harry would get away with putting him to sleep for every little thing.

He tried to get up, and yet again Harry's body immediately wrapped itself even tighter around him, making it impossible for him to move without waking him up. He sighed slightly and let his body drop back on the bed.

A few minutes later Harry began to wake up, and Cedric, tired of waiting for him to get up, grabbed his wand and doused the both of them with icy water.

Harry jumped up with a shriek, falling out of the bed and crashing to the ground. Cedric snickered quietly before getting up to help his mate up.

Harry, once he had truly woken up, dried himself off and gave Cedric his 'death glare'. Cedric had learned to respect it, even if in of itself it wasn't that frightening, because Harry could be _very _creative in his retaliations. Kudos to Sirius for training him well.

"You put me to sleep." He pointed out, before Harry thought of retaliating.

Harry froze, then nodded shamefully. "You kept on arguing, and I knew you needed some rest, but you wouldn't stop fighting me and…. "

Cedric gently his hand over Harry's mouth, ending his babbling.

"I understand Harry." He whispered, then gave him a hug to show he was forgiven.

Harry sighed happily as he leaned into the embrace. He had never received a loving touch from the Dursleys, so every time Cedric hugged him it felt so safe and _right_, like he belonged there. It was a feeling he liked to hold on to as much as possible.

Eventually though, he had to let go as his stomach growled. Cedric looked at him with an affectionate smile. "Off to breakfast then?"

They had slept in far too late, and there was no time for them to do their morning exercises.

Harry nodded, though he was not looking forward to the coming meal. News of their relationship would have been spread all over the school by now, and from what he had heard from Siri and Remus, Britain was the definition of intolerance. It had been the reason that they had not shown their interest in each other in public, especially given that Remus was a werewolf (though that wasn't known at the time).

The largest part of the stigma that came from same-sex relationships was that ensuring the passage of the bloodline was not possible without children. This problem had been solved in France of all places, through potions that would allow non-creature wizards to carry through a newly grown womb. The British wizards were either too ignorant or too steeped in tradition to use such an 'unnatural' method. Harry barely held back a snort at the thought. Wizards, by their very definition, were unnatural in the eyes of the non-magicals.

No, most of the problem was that Britain was run by bigots, and thus its people were, unintentionally, bigoted.

He gathered his clothes for the day, then took a quick shower that the room so generously provided. Cedric had looked like he was about to come in there with him, and he had let him come close to the door before locking it with a little known spell. Cedric had looked immensely frustrated at the lost chance, and Harry took pity on him as soon as he got out, giving his mate a passionate, yet teasing kiss before leaving him standing there with a goofy grin on his face.

Harry flashed the both of them to Myrtle's bathroom to keep up the ruse that they were sleeping in the Chamber of Secrets, which was bound to get a few more comments on how evil and Slytherin he was. They made their way to the Great hall hand in hand, ignoring the stares and hateful looks being thrown in their direction.

When they entered the great Hall, there was a silence, then it seemed like a buzzing sound replaced it, murmurs and whispers that quickly grew louder. Harry was inadvertently reminded of the time that Dudley had stirred up the hornet's nest hidden in the garden. It sounded like a swarm of beings slowly getting angrier and angrier. Of course, he, Harry, had been blamed for it, and beaten when it was his idiot cousin's own stupidity that got him stung.

The first altercation came up when they sat down at their usual seats.

"We don't want any poofters here!" Came a voice Harry had learned to dislike during his time with Cedric's house. Smith.

There were several murmurs of agreement, though they were silenced when Harry burst out laughing. It seemed the entire hall stilled at a sound no one expected to hear in the news of the boy-who-lived being gay. Crying perhaps, but not laughter. When the students found the source of the laughter they were even more confused, but decided to listen in, as they were wont to do.

"What exactly is a poofter?" Harry asked.

Smith looked nearly Vernon-red, an amazing feat for someone without a history of high blood pressure, well then, maybe he did?

"You know what I'm talking about you damn fairy!" He hissed.

Harry made a face that suggested he was annoyed. "For your information, I am a Dracken, not the little insignificant magical species known as the fae." He mock sniffed and several members of the table, despite their feelings toward Harry's sexuality, could not keep small smiles from their lips at Harry's rebuttal.

"Augggh!" Smith nearly shouted "We don't want fucking gay blokes sitting at our table! Is that a good enough explanation for you?"

"No, not really." Harry chirped back as he started to serve his food, ignoring the looks he was getting.

"Get off of our table you bloody fag!" Smith shouted loud enough to cross the hall. Sprout looked horrified at the language coming from one of her charges, but oddly enough made no move to get up and admonish him for it.

"You first you whiny little bigot." Harry rebounded, his voice distinctly more cool and his eyes narrowed as he eventually got tired of listening to the stupid intolerant little rat.

Smith didn't even deem that worthy of a response, deciding that pulling his wand was the best option. There was an audible snapping sound, and he looked down to see he had broken his wand in his haste to get Harry away from the table. He seemed frozen in shock when Harry snorted at his misfortune, hiding a smirk at how easy it had been to snap the boy's wand without even moving and without anyone knowing.

He got up, seeing everyone's attention focused on the drama unfolding at the Hufflepuff table. It was a good a time as any to clear the air over the subject.

"Students of Hogwarts, I have something to say, and I will only say it once. If you have been wondering about the rumors going around, then yes, it is true that I am gay and my m-boyfriend is Cedric Diggory." He paused for a bit, waiting for the cries of outrage, but surprisingly, they were few and far in-between.

He continued. "Now, knowing the Hogwarts rumor mill, I have most likely been giving Cedric doses of love potion since I first arrived in an attempt to win the tournament for myself." He smirked when there were several students that looked quite sheepish. "I, Harry James Potter, swear that I have not given Cedric a single dose of love potion, or any other kind of potions for that matter, nor have I cast a single behavior altering or controlling spell; so mote it be." He glowed, signifying the oath was real, then cast a bright lumos to prove he still had his magic. The oath covered everything, and it did not mention any natural body magics that might have attracted Cedric, which he was still uncertain of. Because he had basically said he had done nothing conscious to make Cedric forcibly fall in love with him, then there was no danger from the oath.

"Now that we've cleared that up, I wanted to say one more thing." He turned to Cedric, who got up and held his hand proudly in front of the entire school. Harry could feel him tremble slightly, and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. He ran his eyes over the head table, noting that Dumbledore did not look happy at all, and Sprout had a knowing look in her eye. He was a bit unsure of what that meant, but he mentally shrugged and continued.

"We are both going to the Yule ball, _together_; so for all of those simpering little girls that think showing us their breasts or hanging off our arms is going to get us to ask you out to the ball….At this point he glared in the direction of Cho at the Ravenclaw table….you are wrong. This is final, so bugger off and find your own dates, the both of us are taken, and we are _not _even remotely thinking of changing our minds!"

The teachers looked scandalized at his language, then several turned to focus on the students that looked a bit shameful. What on earth was happening to the standards of Hogwarts if their students went around like that to try and get a date? It was disgusting! Sprout in particular was disturbed with the number of girls that had turned red. She would need to address her house's lacking moral standards in the next common room meeting.

Harry, now that he had said his piece, returned to his seat next to Cedric and began to eat, mentally smirking at the looks several of the teachers were sending at their students. They deserved it for the shameless way they had been throwing themselves at him, just for a way to climb up the social ladder.

**Are all humans this stupid when it comes to mating rites? **Adena hissed in Harry's ear.

He shrugged slightly, knowing that Adena would understand his reply. He was currently in Defense against the Dark Arts, and the only thing keeping the other students from verbally attacking him on how disgusting he was was their fear and respect (mostly fear) for Professor Moody. Harry did not really pay attention during the class. Sirius, despite his childish behavior, was a very good instructor in the defense against the dark arts, being one of the ministry's top Aurors before he was framed and thrown into prison. It had been one of the reasons that Director Bones had decided to help Sirius and Harry get out of the country.

No, Harry was currently working on the designs for the hover-ring on a piece of muggle isometric paper. He had found the pattern strange at first, but had quickly grown to appreciate the paper for the ease with he could draw in three dimensions. Apparently it was used for muggle engineering designs and sketches, which suited what he was doing perfectly.

The main problem he could see with the ring was that in his first design, he had not placed power-limiters like he had in the gauntlets. That was a major mistake, because without those limiters, the amount of energy released by the crystals was random at best. He had also decided that the need for four crystals was too much. One half-charged crystal would have been enough to hold the structure in place for over ten years, that was how powerful they were. As of now, he was planning on using three fully charged crystals in the design, while heat draining runes would provide a small amount of the energy needed to lift the device.

For lift, there would be six casting runes on the bottom of the outer 'ring' spaced equally. There were another six around the edge of that same ring that would be used for moving the ring around.

What he was really having trouble with was designing some method of the rings detecting their tilt, like some kind of magical gyroscope. He knew that the most basic way to do this would be to have some kind of dead weight attached to the bottom of a sphere in the center of the rings, because when the rings changed in angle the weight would always point directly to the ground. But what he really was having trouble with was a method for the rings to detect how much of an angle there was between the dead weight and the rest of the rings. After that, there was the problem of figuring out how much power should go to which casting rune at which moment to keep the rings balanced.

He thought for a moment. What if he put the dead weight inside of a hollow sphere, so that there was no part hanging out and banging into things? Then he realized that if the weight was on the inside of the sphere, then there could be a series of sending runes on the very bottom of the sphere, right where the weight was. Then there could be another sphere surrounding the inner sphere with detector runes located in rings that each corresponded to different heights.

He quickly cleared his desk and retrieved the pieces of metal from null space while simultaneously casting a notice-me-not ward around himself, excluding Cedric. He was in the back of the class, and he was only attending the lectures because Cedric was there. He envisioned the inner sphere in his mind, with a large pendulum-like object pointing towards the bottom. while inside the sphere. Then there were the energy gathering runes to power the sending runes and a combination of runes that made the outer surface of the inner sphere frictionless.

Then there was the outer sphere, whose rings of runes were absolutely miniscule. Considering that Harry was using a system whose smallest unit was 4 minutes instead of a single degree, that wasn't that much of a surprise (**AN**: 1 minute is 1/60th of a degree, so Harry's smallest unit would be 1/15 of a degree, which means 15*360 or 5400 rings of runes). For the first time, Harry was forced to envision separate sections of the runes at a time, there was far too much information for him to be able to see in his mind otherwise.

Each ring was a series of detection runes and energy gathering runes, along with another group of runes that, once he had built it, send the 'information' back to the power flow controls.

The power controls would probably be the most annoying to tinker around with. The reason for that was that the power being pushed out needed to be able to change. Because of the need for that change, there would need to be several defined amounts that the crystals could offload their power in. Then those amounts, which would probably be around twenty different values, would need to be used in a way that would quickly balance the craft, depending on their location on the ring. It was going to be a nightmare to figure out just how to issue those commands in a way that would work. Just for that reason, Harry decided right then and there that all sets of six caster runes would be reduced to three. It wasn't worth the headache.

_Well, at least I got the gyroscope. _Harry thought despondently.

Never had he been so glad at the fact that DADA was at the end of the day because he had immediately used the opportunity to work on the ideas he had for the ring so far, running to the Come and Go room while Cedric went to go somewhere with his friends from Ravenclaw. Harry didn´t worry about it, the bracelet would let him know if Cedric was hurt or came under the effects of potions.

To start with his idea, he needed to find some way of testing the gyroscope to make sure that it was doing what it was supposed to do. When he had first designed it in his mind, he had made the outer sphere send out a ´signal´in degrees and fractional degrees.

In a burst of inspiration, he remembered the tempus charm, a useful little thing that told the time in a manner of the caster´s choosing. Harry tended to use digital, due to his non-magical upbringing.

The spell itself was a unknown in how it worked. Every spell was made up of a series of runes, tied to an incantation that often reflected the intent. The tempus charm had two main parts to it. Firstly was the unknown sequence of runes that ´knew´the location of the caster and the time of that location. Most likely it was referencing some sort of hidden enchanted object.

The second part of the spell was the part that Harry was interested in, the one that actually displayed the numbers for the user.

He pulled out a small stone that fit into his palm, and inscribed it with the displaying runes, along with a rune sequence to 'receive' and identify the signal, something of his own making. He then took another stone (he had far too many of them stored away) and fashioned it into a holder, gingerly placing the sphere inside when he realized that he had not placed a single strengthening rune on it.

He painted a ring around the sphere to show when it was level, then pushed some of his magic into the small 'displayer' stone to activate it.

He let out a whoop when the sphere read zero and two fifteenths. It was working!

Now for the next step. he had to create some kind of rig to hold the sphere in place on an axis, so that instead of the gyroscope rotating freely, it would only be able to rotate on a single axis, like a bead on a string.

Belatedly, he had realized that there had to be some kind of directional system that would know in _which_ direction the gyroscope was tilting. However, that would require him to make another sphere, which he really didn´t want to do at that moment. It was both physically and mentally exhausting to carve all of those runes in one sitting.

He was then able to fashion a basic ´thrust´rune cluster, and created a small harness with two rectangular pieces sticking on either side, perpendicular to the axis. He also altered the axis slightly so that it would provide resistance so that the sphere would only move when something was pushing it along.

He had leveled the sphere, then activated the thrusters (which were linked to the signal being generated on the gyroscope, the greater the angle on one side, the more thrust provided by the other side). Each thruster was equipped with a small crystal the size of his pinky nail. He had to jump back when the thrusters fired at full power, fighting each other in an effort to balance the gyroscope.

Harry shut them off and growled in frustration. Why was it so hard to get his idea to work?

December 23rd, Hogsmeade, Gladrags

Harry had no idea how Cedric had talked him into doing this, but he was not happy, not happy at all!

He absolutely _hated_ shopping! It was the bane of his existance! And it was worsened by the fact that he and Cedric had a posse of girls that had stayed over the break (though they might have been going back home after the ball on the express, like he and Cedric were) following them around while trying to act as if they were not doing just that.

The two of them had been in the store for several hours now, thanks to the magical expansions, and to say that Harry was having trouble finding dress robes was an understatement. Sirius was the resident shopper of Harry´s little family, and though he often chose eyesores, he still seemed to know which eyesores went with which(not that it made much of an improvement).

Harry saw a flash of color, and refocused his attention on it. It was a dress robe, tastefully done in colors he would not have expected to work well together. He casually checked the price and size, making sure that Cedric was nowhere in sight before snagging it and casting the changing room spell.

He walked out of the store ten minutes later with a shrunken bag in his pocket.

December 24th

Harry was nearly floating on air! He was going to have a little brother or sister!

His parents had told him of their decision to take the pregnancy potion, so that they could finally have some children of their own. Remus had realized just how that must of sounded, and began to apologize, but Harry just waved him off. He understood.

Sirius and Remus had not been able to truly act on their feelings when they were in their youth, living in England. Sirius because he was a member of a pureblood house, and such feelings were considered 'improper', and Remus being a 'Dark creature'. Now they were living in a place that their relationship was considered somewhat normal, and that would not frown upon them for having children together.

Cedric had simply smiled indulgingly when Harry managed to babble out the news. Like most pureblood children, Cedric was an only child, and would have loved to have a younger brother or sister during his childhood.

But he was the only child of his family, which meant that the responsibilities of the house would fall on him one day, no matter if he wanted them or not.

Harry was exhausted, but he was _so_ close to getting his idea to work! He just needed a small adjustment to the runes that dictated the power ratios of the thrusters and...there!

He snapped the three power crystals into place, then slipped on an armband that he had created after his third prototype that would allow him to control the ring-device (he really need to find a better name for it). It was strange to think that once he had struggled with the runes for his ´fax machine´and taken him over a month to finish a project when he had done this one in a week. Hell, if he added up all the time that had been truly devoted to the project, it was only about 30 hours that he had spent on it.

He looked at the ring as it hovered, perfectly balanced, and gave it a slight push with his hand. Almost too quickly for him to follow, the ring righted itself and stayed in place. He gave a whoop and started playing around with his new toy (because thats all it really was at this point), flying it around _the_ (come and go) room and marveling at how well it responded to his commands.

He didn't see Cedric until he heard a shout of surprise as the older boy dived to avoid the flying ring, his skin tingling at the feel of the magic coming out of the device. Harry gave him a sheepish smile in apology before sending the ring back into null space. He could make some more of them _later._

December 25th

Night of the Yule Ball

Harry scowled as he tried once again to get his hair to lie down. It was useless, no matter what he did, it always refused to stay down. His reflection stared back at him in the full length mirror.

His dress robes were…nice. He didn't really know how to describe them otherwise. They were a deep green color with a golden trim, something that ought to have look awful, at least in his opinion, yet worked wonderfully. He looked sharp, the clothes ever ironed thanks to the enchantments on them, and yet he could still not get his blasted hair to cooperate!

Sirius had once told him it was the same for his father, that he had fretted about getting the hair just right for the first time that he went to a ball with Lily. Of course, he had finished the brief story with ruffling up his hair, which had ended up with Harry using a lower powered lightning hex to give Sirius's precious locks a nice afro.

He shook his head fondly at the memory. He missed his godparents deeply. Cedric's presence helped, but they were his first true family, and his time with them so far had been too short.

He smiled again, remembering the news that Remus and Sirius had decided to go for their dream and have children together. When he had spoken to them a few days ago Sirius had just taken the potion and they expected to conceive by the 30th at latest. The two of them had been quick to reassure him that they were not trying to replace him, that they would always love him and that he would always be, to them, their own child.

Harry was happy for them, yet at the same time, he was apprehensive. He had no real experience with younger children, other than the actions of Dudley, who _still _had tantrums.

All thoughts of his future vanished with the sight of Cedric walking out of their bathroom. He looked…drool-worthy. Despite his animosity towards his own house (which had barely been mended by their apologies) Cedric had decided to go in his house colors, in robes whose style nearly mirrored Harry's own. Being a seeker, his muscles were well defined, not quite as much as Harry's yet, but still enough for Harry to notice them through the robes.

Harry felt his face growing hot, and quickly turned to hide his reddening cheeks. He heard a chuckle as Cedric turned him around and gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. "You look _ravishing._" Cedric murmured huskily.

Harry shivered lightly. Even if they hadn't done _it _yet, they were getting awfully close to doing so. Cedric wasn't pushy about them having sex at all, he knew Harry was shy about it, and he was underage on top of that. But he had this annoying habit of making Harry's hormones surge with just a few words in his ear. It was maddening! And Arcturus said he was supposed to wait until he was 17! How in his ancestor's name was he supposed to do that?

He pushed Cedric away slightly, his cheeks flushed even further while he tried to compose himself. "…Thank you, you look good too." he replied, studiously looking away again.

Cedric chuckled softly before giving him a hug from behind. "We better go before we get…_distracted._" He whispered.

This time the shiver was more pronounced, and Harry ran over to the other side of the room to look over his appearance and distract himself. _Bloody hell. _Even thinking of the word distracted led back to naughty thoughts of Cedric.

Harry forced down the feeling of arousal, that was the last thing he needed right now, and turned around to Cedric, face looking blank and composed. Cedric, getting the hint, walked over to him and offered his arm.

"Shall we?" he smiled, but a part of it looked forced. He was anxious about coming out at the ball, and had been trying to mask it with his flirty behavior. True, they had said it in front of the school, but now they were doing it in front of the ministry that was so descreminitory towards the non-human 'beasts' like Harry. And worse, as a part of the people that had organized the tournament, his father would be here, and he would have to come out in front of him, if he didn't know already.

Harry smiled softly, seeing the worry in Cedric's eyes. He squeezed Cedric's hand in reassurance before letting go and putting his arm through Cedric's. "Lets." he replied, flashing them to Myrtle's Bathroom (which had been sealed by Harry's ward stones soon after the incident with Cho).

They stepped out of the bathroom regally, but with slight expressions of disgust on their faces. Simultaneously, they acted as if they were just putting their foci away, to keep up the illusion that they really were sleeping in the Chamber of Secrets.

As they made their way down to the hall, they saw various couples walking around and making their way. Most of the girls, even with their dates in front of them, tried to get his attention, much to their dates' anger. But Harry shook his head and then ignored them.

McGonagall was waiting for them near the great Hall. She was the one escorting the Champions into the Ball.

She brought them into a small room not far from the Hall, and Harry was briefly surprised to only see Fleur and Victor in their robes. Apparently they had decided to go together as well. Harry nodded to the both of them before his old teacher began to explain what was expected of them at the ball and how the ministry was here and yadda yadda yadda. Harry honestly tuned out after the first minute or so of her lecture while ignoring her disapproving looks at his and Cedric's clasped hands.

Finally, she managed to finish her lecture (much to Harry's relief) and led them out of the room

When they reached the Great Hall, Harry could not hold back a gasp.

(**AN **I am going by movie version of the yule ball)

It was as if the Hall was an entirely different room, the floor a soft white that seemed to glow like snow. There were Christmas trees spaced evenly throughout the hall, each with snow hanging from the bows. The walls appeared a light gray, seemingly covered with ice. It was if the Hall was part of a palace of ice.

In other words, it was simply too beautiful to accurately describe.

Cedric chuckled slightly at the awestruck look stuck on his mate's face. They walked into the great Hall with hands held high, even with the whispers and titters of the crowd. They could both hear the sounds of disapproval and disgust, but ignored them as they had learned to do in the past week.

What was worse was the staggering number of reporters. If he hadn't known better he would have though they were a small group of students from another school, there were so many of them. It appeared as if every publication in Britain, and some outside of it, were invited here to get the events of the ball.

Well wasn't that just wonderful. The news of his sexuality would be known by the entire Wizarding world tomorrow morning. He paused in mid-step before continuing, wondering why, with his practically announcing it to the entire school, it hadn't been leaked to the press already.

To answer that question, one would have to look at Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. In one of his more convoluted plans, he had decided that he would remove Harry from the mail wards that would protect him from cursed letters and portkeys, at least those not from family. The wards also rejected letters with howlers and other letters that did not meet the same criteria.

It was his hope that one of the letters would be able to injure Harry, and that he would finally be able to get some potions into the boy once he was under Poppy's care. Had Harry actually known about this plan, he would have literally rolled on the floor laughing his head off at how, like all of Dumbledore's plans, it had so many variables that it was doomed to fail.

Thus, the main reason for the crowd of reporters that Dumbledore had allowed into the castle was that if more people learned the truth of Harry's sexuality, the more of them would hate him and want to hurt him.

Harry wasn't going to dwell on it though. He and Cedric had a dance to do, then they could get some food and leave.

The music began as soon as the four champions took their positions, and the floor was quite empty, considering that there were only two couples on the floor. After about a minute of only the champions dancing, other couples began to enter the floor.

Harry watched a few of them as He and Cedric took their measured steps around the floor. The Weasley twins, (who he really needed to talk to at some point) were with Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell, no big surprise there. Neville, however, he was not expecting, the normally clumsy boy seeming right at home on the dance floor with a young whimsical looking girl with white blond hair. He smirked slightly when he saw Ron and Hermione dancing with each other, Ron constantly stepping on her toes. The two of them deserved each other.

Harry was lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you looked at it) enough to have learned some of the more well known dances from Sirius, who claimed that dancing was 'the only fun part of Pureblood Culture', and he did pretty well; he had yet to step on Cedric's toes.

Harry really didn't enjoy dancing that much with his godfather, but the experience was completely different with Cedric. The older boy held him as if he were the most precious thing in the world, yet tightly enough for Harry to feel the comforting heat of his body. It was almost as if they were alone on the dance floor, only seeing each other.

When the last few notes of the song ended, Cedric and Harry both bowed to each other, as was custom, and walked off the dance floor. Neither would admit to being good dancers, and they had already done their piece, so they had decided that it would be nice to get some punch and food and then find a secluded corner to relax. Obviously, Harry being Harry, such a simple plan would go pear-shaped before it barely began.

"Mr. Potter, Daily Prophet, is it true that you gave up your British citizenship?"

"Mr. Potter, Witch Weekly, our readers are wondering how long you have known you were attracted to men?

"Mr. Potter!"

"Mr. Potter?"

Harry nearly growled in frustration. The second they get off of the dance floor. With a gesture he summoned his left gauntlet and cast a _protego orbis_ over both he and Cedric, along with a _muffliato_ to block out the obnoxious reporters. He led Cedric to the refreshments, ignoring their entourage that was being repelled by the shield spell. He was really tempted to let the spiders out to play, but restrained the urge.

He was glad that there had been no class days since the two of them had come out with their sexuality, because he had spent the majority of his time working on the hover-rings. They worked pretty well now, each powered by three small crystals whose power flow was carefully regulated by a series of limiting runes (something he had forgotten the first time). Once he had figured out the thrust ratios, he had changed the design so that there were eight 'push' runes on the bottom of the rings, and six on the sides for maneuverability. The rings even had weak shields to protect them from minor spells and jinxes.

It was with a triumphant grin that he brought two of them out of null-space and directed them towards the table, simultaneously levitating the serving instruments and filling both his and Cedric's plates. After the plates were full, he applied sticking charms to their bottom surfaces, and had the rings lift their plates and drinks far out of reach, watching proudly as they rose without a single drop of the punch lost.

He gave the reporters an annoyed look as they were momentarily distracted by the unusual objects that they had never heard of or seen. Taking the opportunity, he cast a notice-me not on both he and Cedric, then another set on the two rings once they were out of the door. They could go eat in the garden.

The garden was beautiful, filled with soft light and soothing earthy scents. There were several couples snogging in the bushes, but the two of them did not follow their example.

Cedric conjured (for some reason it was harder for Harry to conjure living matter) a small table, along with some dishware, and Harry gently let the rings down by he and Cedric's sides so that he could lift their food off.

"This ball is such a waste of time." Harry grumbled after a small bite, twirling his fork absently in the air.

"But Harry, its been a tradition since...right." He mumbled at the end, seeing the incredulous look Harry was giving him.

"I was forced into this bloody tournament by that bloody manipulative coot and they expect me to show up to the dance and put up with all of those bloody reporters? Like hell I will!" "I barely kept myself from silencing and petrifying the lot of them." Harry groused, picking at the food in his plate.

Cedric winced a bit. He had though that reporters were pushy before, but the way that the majority of them had been acting was absolutely ridiculous. It was like they were Crups after a slab of meat.

He reached over and gave Harry's hand a comforting squeeze. "It really sucks to be you sometimes doesn't it?" Cedric asked rhetorically.

Harry rolled his eyes, but a small smile escaped his lips at the effort.

"I rather believe it does" he answered pompously, nose in the air, then he broke into giggles(laughter!).

They both sat there, the air ghosting over their skins as they ate and looked around the garden. It really was a romantic setting, though Harry would never say that aloud. He was not some giggling schoolgirl thank you very much!

It was so strange to think about all the things that had happened to him since his last year at Hogwarts, how he had found himself a new family in James Potter's boyhood friends, how he'd found a city lost to the ages and discovered his true heritage as a Dracken. It had been half a year since his transformation, and though he had hated it at first, now he was unsure of what to think.

He had never thought that he would be glad to have returned to Hogwarts, but that had been before he had met Cedric again. From the moment he had sat next to the older boy, he had felt _safe_ in a way that not even Remus and Sirius could provide. That wasn't to say that he was going to hide behind his mate for protection every time they were in a fight. If anything, he would be the one protecting his mate, keeping him from getting injured as much as he was able. Of course, when he got pregnant for the first time…

He blushed and pushed away that train of thought. He was nowhere near ready to start thinking about having sex, Arcturus had warned him specifically not to do that, no matter how much he wanted to. He would need to consummate their mate-ship on the night of his 17th Birthday, tying him and Cedric together for eternity. Otherwise, Cedric would simply waste away while Harry remained young for the rest of his eternal life, if he did not choose to kill himself from the loss of his mate once he died.

He shivered a bit at the thought. He remembered the first time he had met Arcturus, in that memory of the battle for Atlantis. The depression his ancestor had felt was nearly palatable, it was so strong, he never wanted to suffer that kind of fate.

He glanced sideways at Cedric, turning away slightly when the other boy noticed. For some reason he was suddenly shy, embarrassed at being caught.

"Now Harry, you don't need to look away like that to tell me how attracted you are to me. I know I'm way to sexy for you, but its ok, you can learn to deal with it." Cedric gave him a mischievous look.

Harry stared at him, mouth agape in incredulity before narrowing his eyes. "As if," he snorted haughtily "We both know that I had nearly every girl in the school chasing after me and my hot body."

"Who cares about the girls?" Cedric gave him an evaluating glance. "After all, I've had several of the boys look me over, even Smith can't help but look me over once in a while."

Harry failed to notice the mischief in Cedric's eyes when he growled lowly at the mention of the idiotic bigot. So he was ogling his Cedric now was he? He'd have to put an end to that."

"Um…Harry, whatever you are thinking about, I really hope it doesn't involve me."

Harry gave the boy a raised eyebrow. "Just thinking of ways to teach Smith to stay away, nothing important to…" Cedric burst out laughing. "…you."

He narrowed his eyes again at Cedric's mirth. What in his ancestor's name was so funny?

"Harry, I was joking about the boys comment, really, since when are you so gullible?" Cedric teased.

Harry felt a slight flush creep up his neck. "I am not! I was just…trying to make you think that I believed your trick."

Cedric gave him a look. "I'm sure you were Harry."

Harry pouted slightly at the look. "Of course I was!"

Cedric didn't even dignify that with an answer, just looking at Harry expectantly.

"Ok fine." Harry huffed. "You got me, _for once._" he spoke the last two words in a whisper, but Cedric heard him.

"For once?" Cedric huffed mockingly. "I think I've gotten you back more than once Harry."

"Oh yeah, name me one!" Harry challenged.

"The false image mirror?"

Harry gave him an annoyed look. "You got that from a prank book."

"I did not!" Cedric denied.

"Of course you didn't."

"Harry?"

"Yes my poor inadequate prankster?" Harry teased.

Cedric narrowed his eyes a bit.

"What, can't handle the truth?" Harry mocked a bit.

Cedric apparently couldn't, because he resorted to the one thing Harry had no defense for.

Harry's eyes grew huge when Cedric leapt towards him, too panicked to react before the two of them landed on the soft soil, Cedric tickling his ribs mercilessly.

"No! Ced-Cedric! s-s-stop it! You know-how….tickli-sh- I…am!" Harry pleaded, rolling from side to side to try and escape the fingers. As always, he was unable to, and was only allowed to rest once Cedric grew tired and let him up.

He glowered at the boy, trying to squash down the growing feeling of affection. He was supposed to be annoyed with him right now! Not wanting to snog him silly!

Cedric gave him a cheeky look, his eyes looking just like Sirius' when he pulled off a particularly effective prank. "Are your ribs alright Harry, you look a bit winded."

Harry glared at him playfully. "I'm fine, no thanks to you."

Cedric just gave him a lopsided grin and helped him up, but was unprepared for Harry to sag downward as he passed out, leaving him to carry the weight. He briefly panicked, trying to lift Harry up to see what was wrong with him, then gave him a disgusted look when he saw the small smile on his face.

Harry opened his eyes. "Since when are you so gullible Cedric?"

"I'm going to drop you…" Cedric warned.

Harry's eyes widened theatrically. "You wouldn't do that to a poor little guy like me would you?" He put every ounce of effort into the innocent expression and got a flat glance from Cedric in return.

"Yes."

Harry instantly wrapped himself around Cedric's torso. "I'd like to see you try now."

Cedric gave him an amused look before reaching out with twitching fingers. Harry yelped and let go before he could tickle him again, falling hard on his ass.

He gave Cedric a glare when he laughed, and got up, rubbing his ass.

"Do I need to kiss it to make it better?" Cedric teased flirtingly.

Harry gave him a playful glare before shrugging. "If you think that it will help."

"I think I know a better place for that." Cedric whispered.

Harry quirked an eyebrow slightly. "Is that so?"

"It is." Cedric whispered, then moved his face forward and kissed Harry passionately. Harry, after a brief moment of surprise, eagerly contributed to the kiss, pushing the table away and feeling Cedric pull him into his arms, his hands fisted in his robes.

A series of flashes had Harry pushing Cedric to the ground while simultaneously casting a powerful shield. He growled in annoyance when all he saw was the crowd of reporters, accompanied by an army of photographers. He also recognized the man that had wanted to get Sirius kissed, even once Amelia had said he was innocent. The Minister.

He glared at the lot of them before turning back and helping Cedric to his feet, quickly checking the back of his head to see if he had hurt it. When he found nothing wrong he turned back to the reporters, seething, and nearly snarled at them. That had been an incredibly private moment and they had taken pictures of it!

He focused his anger on the Minister and shouted. "Who the hell do you think you are Fudge! Is it really that important that you had to interrupt a private moment or are you just stupid?"

A dumpy little witch dressed all in pink screeched at him. "How dare you speak to The Minister that way you foul _creature_! Apologize at once!"

Harry gave her a once over, then a dismissive glance. "The Minister?" "He is not the Minister, he is the Minister for Magical Britain and nowhere else."

"Britain is the premier Wizarding country in the world." The toad woman crowed.

Harry barely repressed the urge to laugh.

"Is that so? " he asked condescendingly. " Tell me M_inister, _just how many new potions has Britain created in the past 100 years?"

The man looked distinctly uncomfortable when he answered. "I do not know."

"One, the wolfsbane, which if anything, is a bastardized version of a potion from before the era of the founders that permanently combined the minds of the wolf and the human so that the human would always have control, with one dose!" He ignored the murmurs of disbelief and continued.

_"_I know because my father has taken it and is no longer a danger to us on those nights."

"Your parents are dead, so this _creature _you speak of cannot be your father." The toad woman retorted snidely.

Harry's face seemed to flicker as the hybrid form wanted to come out. He suppressed it harshly, before allowing himself to speak.

"Yes, my birth parents are dead, but I still consider this man to be my father." he ground out, his hands flexing as he itched to tear the woman apart.

"Mr. Potter, we have on record your guardian is Sirius Black, and he is not a werewolf." The minister spoke pompously, as if he expected all who met him to follow his lead, and Harry had not just insulted the progress of his country. Harry snorted mentally, as if he would even listen to such a pompous windbag!

"No, but his husband is." It was Harry who spoke snidely this time, looking annoyed at the expressions of hate and disgust on the faces of several of the reporters. Hello, wasn't he gay as well? Why weren't they making those faces at him?

"That is not possible! Same-sex marriages are prohibited!" The toad woman screeched, fingers drawn into claws. Harry winced a bit at her voice before replying.

"Only to you bigots...oops, I meant Brittons; and besides, at least same sex-marriages allow more branching off of the bloodlines, you should know that best of all Madame." Harry tipped an imaginary hat and snickered lightly as the woman spluttered in indignation.

"Mr. Potter, what is this nonsense of you moving to another country? the Minister tried another tactic.

"It isn't nonsense; I decided that you British didn't have my best interests at heart and so I eliminated my British Citizenship." Judging by the minister's suddenly pale face, that fact had not been well known. The reporters were all scribbling madly with their quills, trying to catch every detail.

"Mr. Potter, what could possess you to do such a thing? This is your birth country, the home of your parents."

Harry spluttered for a moment. "What could possess me...? Are you bloody mad?"

"Lets see, where can I start...? Oh yes, how about the fact that only days after my parents' death I was left on a doorstep in the freezing November cold with muggles that hated magic with a passion. Why was I beaten and starved when you idiots all assumed that your _savior_ was safe and protected? Why wasn't I told about the magical world until my 11th birthday? Why wasn't my godfather given a proper trial!? Why wasn't I raised by him as _my parents will _said I should?

The Minister looked paler with every sentence and seemed relived when Harry stopped to take a breath, then paled again when Harry continued to speak. "Thats all the shite I had to put up with before I entered your _wonderful_ world of magic. "Now lets look at the Hogwarts years." Harry discreetly silenced the minister before he could try and interrupt.

"First year I was mobbed when I was getting my supplies in Diagon Alley. People pointed at me and whispered behind my back without any shame whatsoever. I had to deal with that prick Snape who hates me with every fiber of his being. I was nearly killed to save Hermione Granger from the troll that had been let in by the possessed defense professor. I was nearly killed again by that same professor who jinxed my broom while I was in the middle of my first Quidditch game. Then there was the incident in the forbidden forest, where guess who, Professor Possessed was drinking the blood of unicorns for the spirit that was holding onto the back of his head, and tried to attack me again. And then finally, there was that whole elaborate test set up by Dumbledore in an effort for me to face that same professor again, who nearly killed me, AGAIN."

"Second year was pretty much the same as the first, having a completely incompetent defense professor in the form of Gilderoy Lockhart. There was that dueling club, where I learned that my ability to speak to snakes was considered evil, and was then shunned and avoided by the majority of the student body. Then the Chamber of Secrets opened, and I was thought to be the heir of Slytherin. I listened to Hagrid's advice on finding out what happened the last time that the chamber was opened, which he gave to me when you were falsely arresting him by the way Minister, and found myself nearly eaten by Acromantulas in the forbidden forest. Then when Ginerva Weasley was brought into the chamber I fought a basilisk to save her life. Turns out that she was possessed by a memory of the dark lord Voldemort, whose pet basilisk would have killed me if it wasn't for the help of Fawkes the Phoenix."

"Third year is my personal favorite. First was the dementors on the train." He gave the Minister a pointed look at that. "Then there that Quidditch game where they decided that I would be a prime snack and swarmed me." He paused for a moment, letting the reporters catch up a little, then continued. "After that there was the whole mess with Pettigrew, and _you_ wanting to have my godfather _kissed_ even after the head of the DMLE had questioned him and declared him innocent. Then when I go to Gringotts to have a look at my accounts I learn that I had loyalty charms keyed to my so-called friends that someone was using to control me as well as paying them for the effort with my money."

He paused again, then added. "And I can't forget that marriage contract to Ginerva Weasley discovered the day before my inheritance."

He smiled at the reporters, seeing how uncomfortable their presence was making Fudge. "Would you like to know more?" Many of the reporters had near rabid expressions on their faces with the stories that they would be able to get out of this.

Seeing their agreement, Harry smiled at a now ghost-white fudge and continued. "This year, I get forced into a tournament once shut down for its lethality against my will, have to deal with a government that makes it their personal mission to discriminate against _creatures, _who are just as human as the next wizard, which you can't see thanks to your bigotry. A government that uses the media as its mouthpiece for its own propaganda and lies and does not seem to know the meanings of the words slander and libel. A government that would, if I were still a part of this country, try to subjugate me to laws put in place out of fear and hatred, laws that are nearly the same as those put in place by the Nazis a few years before muggle world war two, the same time as the Grindewald war."

He smiled at the looks of confusion among the majority of the crowd, and elaborated. "These laws segregated a minority of people based on something that they had no control over, their parentage, just like me and the majority of the other creatures. And do you know what the result of those laws were?" He asked to a slightly revolted looking press.

They shook their heads.

His expression turned somber. "Those laws allowed the German Muggle Ministry to justify the deaths of an not entirely known amount of these people, but the count they used during the trials after the war suggested that they killed around six million of these people, about a ninth of the current wizarding population today."

The looks of disgust turned to looks of disbelief and horror. Six million people?

"And that was not even the worst part." Harry continued. "These people were all innocents, children, mothers, fathers, trying to make a living in a world that hated them for no reason, like us creatures. And they were herded into camps to live and work, much like the 'reservations' provided for the few werewolves that do register. These people, who had done nothing to deserve this treatment, were systematically chosen and placed into small rooms, where they were killed through poison gas, then their bodies burned in the crematoriums by the next morning."

His audience was entirely silent, and he nodded in satisfaction at having made his point, turning to the dumpy toad-witch that had been screeching at him earlier. "How long is it before the British ministry does the same? And why the hell has the ICW not sanctioned Britain for having such inhumane laws against its creature populations?" He raised the silencing spell on Fudge, though he did not notice.

Fudge, doing the smart thing for once, silenced the woman before she could go on an angry tirade about all creatures deserved to be killed. That was the last thing he needed right now.

"Mr. Potter, I assure you that the Ministry of Magic would never do such a thing!" he seemed pleading, as if he was desperately trying to get off of this topic.

"As long as you have people like her in your administration, I do not believe you at all M_inister_." Harry retorted, before motioning toward Cedric, who had been watching the confrontation with wide eyes and an open mouth. He embarrassedly shut it, and gave Harry his hand.

"Even without all that I just mentioned, I would never stay in this country for one simple reason." he nearly whispered, causing the less-shellshocked reporters to move in to listen.

"To you, I am only a tool, a symbol, a weapon, a scapegoat; take your pick. I am **not** a person to you people, and _that _is why I will _never_ willingly stay in this country."

He turned back to the Minister and said. "Now that we've cleared all of that up, I would like to enjoy the rest of my night with my mate!" Harry left the plates where they were, the house-elves would come and pick them up later, cleaning off his robes as he prepared to leave. He should have known something would happen, but he had been hoping that fate would let off a little on him. No such luck.

A man pushed his way through the crowd, one that could only be Cedric's father, and Harry felt his mate tense completely.

"Cedric! What is this madness! You can't be gay! You're my son!"

Harry bristled at the mere sight of the man. So what if Cedric was gay? That didn't make him any less of a person! It was only Cedric's grip on his arm that kept him from speaking his mind. It didn't stop his eyes from boring holes into the man.

Cedric swallowed convulsively. "Yes I am your son, and my life mate is Harry Potter." His reply was stiff and formal, his discomfort with his father easy to see.

"That's impossible! I never raised my son to be a fucking fairy!" The elder Diggory shouted, his face turning red in his anger.

Harry barely contained the urge to attack the man when Cedric flinched back as if struck. It was obvious how much that comment had hurt him.

Cedric's tone was decidedly more cold when he replied. "It wouldn't have mattered how you raised me, I would have turned out the same."

"But why Cedric, why did you have to choose a filthy dark creature of all things?" Amos pleaded, further cementing Harry's point about the bigotry in Britain, not that he cared at the moment. As soon as Amos had finished his sentence, Harry's eyes had flashed and he had desperately repressed his hybrid form, his Occlumency the only thing letting him keep control.

Cedric's eyes were filled with pain before he closed them. "You see Harry as an object, a thing and nothing else dad, but I love him. I truly love him, and always will, nothing you can do or say will ever change that!" At the end, his voice had risen and hardened, just as his expression did the same.

"But...no! It's not possible! No, I won't stand for it Cedric! get over here right now! I will not have you end our bloodline with him!"

If the situation had not been so serious, Harry would have rolled his eyes at the man's ignorance.

Amos Diggory moved forward, as if he were going to grab Cedric and physically pull him away. He was stopped by a silent shield, coming from Cedric's wand.

Seeing that he was not about to reach his son that way, Amos resorted to threatening.

"Get over here this instant Cedric! I did not raise you to act this way!" Amos bellowed, oblivious to the crowd of reporters.

Cedric spoke calmly, but Harry could hear the bitterness in his tone. "Yes, _father_, you raised me to be the perfect son, the perfect student, the perfect Quidditch player. ...EVERYTHING ABOUT ME HAD TO BE BLOODY PERFECT!" He screamed in frustration.

The elder Diggory took a step back as Cedric's wand began to emit sparks, a sudden wind blowing around him in his agitation.

"Well no more father, no more! You think I would give up the one truly good thing in my life? The one thing that truly makes me happy? I will never willingly leave Harry, you'd need to kill me to make me stay away!"

Harry, before he knew what was happening found himself in a protective embrace, tight enough to make his eyes water a bit. Still a feeling of warmth flooded him at the reminder of how much Cedric truly cared for him, to go against his father so blatantly.

Amos Diggory looked lost, then confused, then furious. "If you don't get over here right now you will be disowned Cedric! I will not have a filthy dark creature in our family, no matter if he is Harry Bloody Potter!

Cedric's back went ramrod straight, his eyes filled with hurt before they became cold and emotionless. "So be it." he spoke softly, then turned to Harry with a pleading expression on his face for them to just leave.

It hurt Harry to see the pain on his mate's face, and he simply nodded. grabbing Cedric and disappearing in a flash of flame, leaving the crowd of vultures (reporters) behind with their eyes widened in disbelief at what this meant.

They reappeared outside their room, Harry quickly opened the door and helped his mate to the bed. Cedric seemed to be frozen in shock until Harry curled around him, holding him tightly. Cedric broke down into sobs, and Harry's own eyes teared up at the unfairness of it all, too upset to care that he had just revealed his abilities over fire.

It would be a long time before either of them managed to sleep.

Authors note:

Yeah I know, really dramatic ending. I hope I didn't overdo the reactions of Cedric and Harry, but hey, I'm mostly using myself as a template as to how the characters would feel if their parents disowned them. I feel like I messed up a bit in how the confrontation plays out, but I think this is good enough for what I was trying to do.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'll probably update in two weeks.

Oh, and just so you guys know, there is an huge upside to me not being able to access my computer during all that time. I wake up really early, much earlier than everyone else, and I was able to write out(on paper) a ch by ch summary of how the story is going to turn out. It will be around 24-28 chapters, because I don't know how much I will change from the summaries as I go along.

This is good because instead of wasting trying to figure out the story is going to go, I will be able to spend more time writing it, and update sooner(though the two weeks thing still stands, I was afraid of going to three weeks)

Anyway, see you in two weeks!


	11. Chapt 10 Christmas Break

Warnings: Nudity

Ch10 Christmas Break

December 26:

Hogwarts Express

Harry sat on his seat with his head laying on Cedric's shoulder, both of them lost in silent contemplation. Cedric had already placed his name on the list of those students wanting to go home over the holidays before the debacle of the Yule ball. He had wanted Harry to meet his parents before they both went to Bermuda, now they were just going because it would take less power for the portkey if they were in London.

Their door was locked and warded with the same stones that Harry had used in Cedric's old room. They had proven quite useful, preventing several groups of students, including Malfoy and his two bookshelves, from getting into or even seeing inside of their compartment. Not that Cedric and Harry had been doing anything. but it was nice to have that rare privacy.

He kept on going over the events of the night before in his mind, the lecture towards Fudge, the confrontation with Amos Diggory, laying on the bed after Cedric had been disowned by his father and trying to keep from crying. It just wasn't fair. Why was it that every time they made some kind of progress it was shot down almost immediately after.

It made him so angry, the way Cedric had been treated by his father, like he was inferior for being attracted to his own gender. How would the person Cedric loved change who he was? How could he disown his son, his only heir, over something he had no control over. His dracken side was itching for some kind of revenge, and he knew just what to do to the bigoted bastard the next time he saw him.

Another thing that was really bothering him was his foolishness in revealing his fire elemental abilities in front of the entire press. Elementals were rare in Wizarding society, the power required to be one was a threshold that grew farther and farther from reach due to the weakening of the magical population. Because of this, the Ministry feared these individuals, given how hard it was to shield against their abilities.

With Riddle's Power, they should have considered themselves lucky that he did not have any elemental abilities in his family line, or if they were, they had not manifested. If he had developed them, Harry doubted that the ministry would still be standing.

But now that they knew _he_ was a fire elemental, they would be doubly afraid of him as they were for him being a dark creature, due to the destructive nature of his ability. He had no doubt that his 'fearsome' ability would be reported to the masses and once again, he would be shunned by the students. Not that it bothered him.

He sat there, brooding, for over an hour, while Cedric did much of the same. Still, the silence between them was starting to get to him, and eventually he couldn't take it any more.

"Ced, I need to talk to you for a moment."

Cedric immediately tensed at Harry's apprehensive tone before forcing himself to relax.

"It's about…a debt that your fami - the Diggorys have with the Potters, a loan that they never repaid, because it was made centuries ago and wasn't easy to find in the Potter records….I want to call it in."

Cedric said nothing, his expression blank, but his eyes were easy to read. Even with his father's behavior the night before, Cedric still loved his family, and probably couldn't stand the idea of hurting them in such an underhanded manner.

"Cedric…Listen." "I know you're hurting…a lot. I have no idea of how bad it is besides thinking of what it would be like if Siri and Remus did the same to me." "…Just the thought of it tears me up inside, and I know that you are probably feeing something a hundred times worse."

Cedric shifted uncomfortably, but made no comment. Harry sighed softly before he continued.

"I'll admit that the main reason I want to do this is because of how your father hurt you. But I also want to send these idiotic British; yourself not included of course (Cedric cracked a small smile before he realized what he was doing and removed it) a message that I will not longer allow them to push me and those I love around without serious repercussions."

He paused for a moment, then continued. "Did you know that the Potter family was one of the families that helped found the Ministry of Magic?" Cedric nodded, his expression feigning disinterest, but Harry knew him better than that by now. Glad to have diverted Cedric's thoughts, Harry continued.

"Did you also know that my family pledged a full 10% of their interest earnings for every year to the ministry?" He asked in his sly voice, though it was so overdone that Cedric's lips twitched slightly before he realized what Harry was saying.

Seeing Cedric understood, Harry continued. "One of their conditions for this support was that the Ministry remain fair and honest in its dealings with the people." Cedric snorted loudly, before schooling his expression.

"….Since they have failed to do that, I can stop that money flow right now, or whenever I want by saying that the Ministry has broken the terms of the agreement."

Seeing the panicked look on Cedric's face, Harry could not help but laugh a little. "Those weren't the words Ced, the real thing is so flowery and convoluted that I wonder how it passes as english. " He waved a hand airily to emphasize his point, getting the depressed boy to smile briefly.

Harry expression turned somber. "Cedric, I know that you don't want to hurt your parents, but I promise you that they will not loose their home or livelihoods by me. I will force them to return the same amount of money that they owe, without the interest; nothing more and nothing less than that. I want these British and especially your father to know that I will not take slights against me and my family lightly. Your parents will not be forced into poverty, but they also won't be able to do all the things that they were so fond of doing before. I Promise." He finished softly.

Cedric's eyes were tearing up in gratitude; he tried to look away before Harry could notice. No such luck.

Harry's hand grasped Cedric's chin and pulled him back to face him, wiping the tears from his eyes with the other hand and placing a gentle kiss on his lips. He moaned appreciatively when Cedric's responded eagerly, wrapping his arms around him and holding onto him as if he were terrified of letting go.

* * *

Harry lifted up his head from sleep when he realized that the train had stopped. He quickly shook Cedric's awake from within his embrace before extricating himself from the tangle of limbs and grabbing their bags from the overhead compartment. Cedric got up, blearily rubbing his eyes, and Harry barely stifled a laugh at how mussed up his appearance was.

Cedric gave him a half-hearted glare before pointing his wand at his head and whispering a spell. Harry pouted when the hair was immediately restored to normal. That was cheating!

Seconds after they stepped onto the platform they were surrounded by reporters.

Harry sighed internally. This was _really_ getting old. Having no patience for the vultures any longer, he opened his null-space pocket and released some twenty spiders onto the platform to scare them off.

He smirked slightly at the frightened screams of the crowd as they tried to run away. Served them right for always badgering him and staring at him. Having made his point he vanished the lot of them with a gesture, giving nasty glares to the sheeple that tried to get close to him.

He scanned the platform, looking for his prey….target. Then he spotted the man and his wife, and began stalking right towards them. They did not notice him thanks to the crowds running around, but he cleared his throat loudly to grab their attention.

They both turned to face him,Lady Diggory looked somewhat sad and resigned when she saw her son, but Lord Diggory was somewhat surprised and then surprisingly smug when he saw Cedric lagging behind Harry. Harry could barely restrain a growl at the sight.

_So he thinks its funny that his only son is disowned does he?_ He thought viciously. _Lets see how he likes my little demand. _

He looked over both of them as though he would like nothing more to grind them into the ground and then wipe them off his shoes. Subtly, he looked around, and saw that the crowd was still focusing on him. Might as well use it to his advantage.

"Amos Diggory, head of House Diggory; for your insults and demeaning comments to both myself and my _mate_ Cedric.." He smirked slightly at the brief look of discomfort on the mans face. "…I demand the repayment of the Diggory family loan of 905, 373 galleons that was given to your house in 1492 as help for the debts your family had accrued during this time. If you are unable to pay this sum, family properties will be taken in compensation. I have already informed Gringotts. I bid you good day."

And with that, Harry took a small disk from his pocket, taking Cedric's finger as well and holding it on the center. Before Amos Diggory could get his wits back after hearing such a demand, he whispered "Lobby" and the two of them disappeared, the vultures descending on the unfortunate man the second they left.

* * *

They arrived in the ornate lobby of Gringotts Bermuda. Cedric eyed the building curiously. It was obvious that this was a Gringotts branch, given the goblins and the booths lining the walls. But the place seemed friendlier somehow, more inviting than the branch in Britain where the goblins had permanent sneers etched on their faces.

Mere moments after they arrived, a young goblin, most likely some kind of page, came running up to them.

"Mr. Potter…Mr. Diggory, the Director needs you in his office at once! The young goblin panted. Harry did not hesitate, running towards the center of the bank , even though he had only come this way once. Cedric could barely keep up with him, an realized that Harry was not going his full speed, going just slow enough so that he could keep up. In all of their morning runs, Harry had never gone this fast, and Cedric could not help feeling completely outclassed.

After a maze of obsidian and marble corridors they reached a door made of black stone that both seemed to reflect the light and absorb it from the air. Cedric could feel the tingle of magic in his skin and realized that the door was completely saturated with wards and protective enchantments.

As Harry reached out to knock on the door, a curt voice spoke "Enter." from inside.

The office was large and cavernous, filled with the same black stone that adorned the door. Every surface was completely smooth, as though it had been polished every day, There was very little light in the room, provided by a small kerosene lamp on the director's desk, which seemed ridiculously small in the expanse of the office.

The director himself was a somewhat young looking goblin, as with all directors of Gringotts banks, he went by the name Ragnok. His attention was completely focused on a small sheaf of parchment that he held in his claws.

The director looked up at the sound of their footsteps, his face grave. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Diggory; I am glad that you arrived so quickly. This is a grave matter we need to discuss." He made a small motion and two wooden chairs appeared in front of his desk. Harry gingerly sat down, wondering what could have possibly happened to make the goblin so worried and ….angry?" If he was reading the director correctly, he looked completely furious.

Harry took a closer look at the parchment and realized, much to his annoyance, that it was _another_ marriage contract.

"Dumbledore put me in another contract? How could he think that it would work after the last time he tried it?" he scoffed lightly, but his slight mirth quickly disappeared when he saw the director's eyes look at Cedric.

Ragnok sighed, though the anger coming off of him was nearly palatable. "This parchment is a marriage contract for your mate, Cedric Diggory."

Harry felt himself freeze up, anger and fear clashing with each other. "Who is it to?" he blurted out, seeing the resentful look on Cedric's face growing by the second.

"A Miss Cho Chang." the goblin answered somberly.

A hot wave of rage flowed over him and he growled loudly. "How dare she!"

"She had nothing to do with it." Cedric mumbled despondently, his eyes unfocused as he looked at the parchment. "My father has been trying to negotiate with the Chang family for a long time, she made it an excuse to hang off of my arm.

Harry rounded on his mate. "You knew about this?"

Cedric nodded, bowing his head. "I never wanted it, I never signed it Harry, I swear to you!"

Harry's eyes softened at the desperation in his voice, and he gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek to show that he understood and was sorry for the outburst.

He turned back to Ragnok. "If Cedric does not remember signing the contract, wouldn't that mean someone forced him to do so?"

Cedric shook his head beside him. "When I left for school the contract wasn't finalized. It must have been signed during the term."

Harry nodded to himself. "And you were with me for nearly all the time…"His face paled. "What about the times that you went with your friends?"

Cedric paled, then gave a furtive glance to his wristband. It had been altered by harry to glow a dark red if he had traces of potions that he had not willingly taken. He sighed in relief when it was normal.

"Dumbledore never got me alone." He assured Harry.

"So how would your name get on the parchment?" Harry mused to himself."

"I believe that it is quite possible for blood magic to replicate a magical signature." Ragnok intoned.

Harry was no stranger to blood magic, he used it for bonding his things to him after all, but he knew that forging signatures using blood magic was one of the few crimes considered unforgivable in the United States. It was one of the reasons contracts were to be witnessed in order to be effective.

Then he realized something else. "Cedric, who is Amos Diggory politically aligned with?"

"Harry..What are…"

"Please answer the question!" Harry pleaded, hoping that his theory was not correct.

Cedric frowned. "Well, there is Amelia Bones, Lady Longbottom, Albus Dumbledore…" He paled and looked at Harry.

Harry bowed his head. "I suspected that Madam Pomphrey was in Dumbledore's pocket, but I never though she would take blood from the students for him!"

Cedric turned to Ragnok. "Is there anything that can break this contract? Some kind of ritual?"

"This contract was made with the consent of your head of house, there is only one way that you can break the contract without death or loss of your magic." The goblin's eyes actually seemed to pity Cedric.

Harry felt as if a cold fist was squeezing around his heart at the expression on his mate's face.

"Ced? What is it?"

Cedric swallowed and swiped at the tears threatening to fall. "I have to disown myself."

His voice was flat, but Harry could hear the agony in it.

He gave a furtive glance to Ragnok. "Is there any other way, wasn't he already disowned?" he begged, not wanting Cedric to make this choice, something that he knew would hurt the other boy horribly.

The goblin's somber expression said it all, and stifling a sob, he clung to Cedric desperately, giving him his support.

"Mr. Diggory needs to disown himself, he was never legally disowned by his father, which means that the contract is completely valid."

Cedric shakily stood up, his back completely straight the same way it had been the night before. "That's it then."

He drew his wand. "I Cedric ….Diggory, do formally and unequivocally renounce the name and ancestry of the house of …." he swallowed. "Diggory, and all its familial magics, treasures, heirlooms, and heirships, ….so mote it be." The wand flashed and Cedric sagged like a puppet cut from its strings cut, tears trickling down his face. It took all Harry had not to follow suit, holding his mate tightly as the pain he was feeling threatened to suffocate him, as if it was saturating the air around him.

He watched through blurry eyes as the marriage contract, once a bright golden color, turned into a muddy brown. It was broken.

He held onto Cedric until the tears stopped falling, then gently helped to brush them away.

Turning towards Ragnok, he bowed formally, his throat tight. "Thank you for your time Director Ragnok, we will take our leave now." Ragnok bowed in return, and Harry took the portkey from around his neck, slipping a part of the chain into Cedric's trembling fingers.

"Home."

* * *

December 28

Cedric laughed and Harry smiled at the sight of it. Cedric had been very depressed the first few days after returning from Hogwarts, and Harry had been constantly wavering between giving him his space and cuddling up to him in comfort.

He had been _very _tempted to send the marriage contract to a British Newspaper, to show that the Diggorys had forced their son into a contract like this, but Cedric had talked him out of it, out of some misplaced love for his parents. Harry had been very reluctant to agree, but decided that going behind Cedric's back on something like this would be unforgivable.

Cedric had legally been Cedric No-name until the night before yesterday, when Harry formally gave him a promise ring, then jumped him and asked him if he would consider taking the Potter name instead. he blushed lightly in remembrance of just what Cedric had done to thank him. His chest still tingled a bit. Sirius was never going to let him live it down, the way he had been rubbing his chest the day after.

Cedric laughed again and Harry barely caught. "And poor old Minnie's desk was completely covered in catnip for the next week!"

He shook his head. Sirius' tales of his pranks at Hogwarts were always good for laughs. He always had a way of portraying the different people realistically, and the many over-exaggerated gestures certainly helped. He had been telling a lot of them lately, and considering that Remus was being absurdly overprotective over his mate, Harry was not surprised at all.

Sirius' pregnancy was now definitely real now, both Remus (and Harry, once he had checked with a spell), knew for sure. Because of that, Remus was in complete overprotective-mothering mode every single day, needing to know where Sirius was at all times to be sure that he was safe. Remus had gone so far as to bin every single drop of liquor in the house, and was bringing Sirius to the town market every day to get him fresh fruits and vegetables. And fish.

Sirius had joked that he was going to loose more weight than gain it in this pregnancy, though Harry doubted it. From what little he had read about male pregnancy, the body would store fat much more easily as a source of energy and food for the growing baby. Anything with just a trace of fat was going to help Sirius gain weight.

Remus had insisted on replacing everyones' portkeys with pregnancy safe ones instead, just on the off chance that Sirius would be accompanying them. Each of the portkeys was able to store three locations, and though Harry itched to take his apart to learn how it worked, he knew it would not work. Every accomplished enchanter used a type of obscuring array to make sure that no one else could copy their ideas, and these portkeys were no exception. He would have to do the same at some point.

* * *

Later that same day, the library

"So what do we do with this thing?" Harry asked, staring at the surface of the golden egg.

Cedric scrunched up his face like he always did when he was trying to remember something. "Didn't Bagman say something about opening the egg?" he asked, semi-sarcastically.

Harry gave him a look before opening the egg with a slight twist.

He immediately dropped to the floor, his hands over his ears in attempt to protect them from the unearthly shrieking. Cedric desperately clutched at the horrible thing before screwing it shut.

The wailing stopped almost immediately, and Cedric ran over to Harry, who was still laying on the floor, his body trembling. He cursed mildly, remembering how sensitive Harry was to loud noises. He gently lifted Harry up, running his hand through his hair in a gesture of comfort while he used the other to remove one of Harry's hands from his ear. The ear twitched slightly, and then the other hand was removed as Harry opened his eyes, glaring hatefully at the golden egg. Cedric could understand the sentiment.

"Well, that didn't work." Cedric commented, ignoring Harry's glare. Of course it didn't work!

Harry made no comment, alternating glares between the egg and him. As if it was _his_ fault.

"What do we do now?"

"Harry gave up his glaring for the moment when he put his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "i don't know what to do,…we need to understand the clue for the water task, and i don't think that banshees have anything to do with water anyway. They live above the water, not below it!"

Cedric's eyes glazed over for a moment, murmuring "Above the water." Then his eyes widened. "Live above the water! Thats it!" He gave Harry a kiss full on the lips, then snatched the egg from the table and ran out of the room. A bit bemused, Harry put his finger to his lips before shaking his head and following after his boyfriend. He winced when he heard the sound of something crashing to the floor, probably a vase(though why they had vases in a house with the two of the marauders and the descendant of the third, he had no idea).

He found Cedric in the bathroom of all places. The room itself was magically expanded, and aside from the normal items; you know, a toilet, sink, towels….it also contained a bath to rival those of Rome, something that Cedric had been quite interested over the past few days. Harry blushed hotly as Cedric started to strip down, kind of silly, considering how they always slept together, but then again they tended to change in separate rooms before they went to bed.

Cedric, not noticing him in the doorway, jumped into the bath with the egg in hand, then resurfaced and grimaced as he tore off his socks and threw them out of the bath.

Harry, his face still noticeably red(which he ignored) , teased "I didn't know that you were that desperate Ced, If you needed to clean yourself so badly why didn't you use a scourgify?"

Cedric turned around and gave him a slight leer when he saw the red over his cheeks, then smirked when Harry reddened further. "No thanks Harry, I like taking a bath better, its much more….comfortable." He gave Harry an up and down look that made his mate feel as if he were already naked.

"Would you like to join me?" He purred seductively. Of course, this was all for show, he knew how nervous Harry was about them moving too quickly, especially with Harry being underage, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun with his mate.

Harry gulped, then gave a furtive glance to the door behind him before steeling his courage. He could survive this.

He slowly waled into the room and grabbed a towel, seeing Cedric's eyes light up with interest. The pervert!

"Turn around!" he hissed, glaring at Cedric until he did so. Cedric rolled his eyes as he complied. Really, why was Harry so easily embarrassed about showing his body?

Gingerly, Harry removed his clothes and got into the tub, grateful for Siri's obsession with the thick foamy bubbles that hid everything below his chest. He made sure to keep facing forward, not wanting Cedric to see the scars on his back.

Cedric held the egg in his hands, then lowered in under the water to open it. Harry's head cocked to the side in confusion and wariness, but he could not hear the screeching any longer. Instead, he could hear the faint strains of music under the water. Cedric looked triumphant, and he ducked under the water for a moment. Harry felt his hands immediately clasp in front of his groin to hide it.

He was mortified by his reaction, and slowly moved his hands away, flaming red. He backpedaled furiously when Cedric resurfaced, looking away to try and hide his blush.

Luckily, Cedric didn't seem to notice. 'Harry, get down here! You gotta hear this!"

Harry didn't get a chance to respond as Cedric immediately took a deep breath and ducked under the water.

A bit confused, he closed his eyes and heard the voices begin to sing.

_A task you are seeking to complete_

_in waters of danger and fear_

_four pieces you must find to do this feat_

_once you leave the pier_

_First seek the guardian of the lair_

_whose head is like a spear_

_the second is in the weeds but beware_

_the horned demons in water unclear_

_The third you will find where our voices sound, _

_the fourth in the great divide_

_but for those pieces not found in time_

_the lake they will stay inside._

Harry brought his head out of the water in a great gasp, hearing the words ringing in his head as he went over them. He heard more than saw Cedric getting out of the water, his eyes glazed as he thought about it.

A stream of cold water hit him in the chest, jolting him from his thoughts. He turned to glare at Cedric, and immediately noticed that the boy had his back turned to him, using the towel to dry off his back while showing his round buttocks perfectly. He felt his mouth go dry and turned to the side, flaming. Damn hormones! This had to be a Dracken thing if he blushed every time he so much as looked at his mate's body.

"Like what you see?" Cedric stage-whispered.

Harry turned to gave him a glare, then squeaked when he saw Cedric's front instead and cast the changing room spell around Cedric's lower body. It didn't help though, he could see _it _ perfectly in his mind. _How is it so big?! _

Cedric looked mildly amused as he summoned some of his clothes, but decided that Harry was embarrassed enough and asked. "So what do you think of the clue?"

Harry cast the changing room spell around his lower body as he got out of the bath and dried himself off. He absently summoned a notebook and an ink-pot along with his clothes, and dumped the ink over the entirety of the page. With a slight hand motion, the majority of the ink came off of the page, leaving the words of the clue written on the page.

Cedric's eyebrow rose at Harry's casual display of elemental magic before he looked over the clue. He barely noticed when Harry flashed them back to the library, mulling over the words in his mind.

"So what do we know?" Harry asked.

"Well…there are four pieces of _something _that we are trying to find, three of them are guarded for sure, the fourth we don't know, and if we don't find all of the pieces by the end of the time limit then we don't get them." Cedric ticked off as he looked over the song again.

Harry nodded, then took his notebook and wrote down a list of what Cedric had described.

Cocking his head to the side, Harry added. "I think its also obvious to add that the task is under the water, and the area that we are going to search is going to be large. Finally, the task has to be in an area that is far from the influence of non-magicals."

"Why the last one?"

"The non-magicals would have found the underwater magical species by now if they had stayed in populated areas, so that means that this lake or river has to be in a magical place."

They both jumped up in realization. "The Great Lake!"

* * *

3:00 local time, later that same day:

When Cedric had first joined Harry's morning exercises, he had thought he was insane. Now, he knew better. Harry had inherited that insanity from his teachers.

I mean come on? Who considered a ten kilometer run to be a mere warm up?

Harold was extremely strict and demanding of his pupils, one willing and the other (Cedric) not so much (understatement of the year). The warm up by itself was just cruel, but the pull ups, crunches, push-ups and to many other '-ups' for him to name were downright torture. And Harry did them all with an ease that stunned the former Hufflepuff.

The first time they had gone for a run, which had incidentally been the day after they came back, Harold had completely ignored his pity-party and snapped at the two of them to start running. Oddly enough, once they finished, Cedric was too focused on keeping from collapsing to think about his self-disownment.

Not to mention the fact that Harry was quite a distraction when they were running. The way he moved was not human; each step seemed deliberate and calculated, yet at the same time so natural that when Cedric had been tripping over roots and stones in the rough path, Harry had been able to dodge them all, never missing a step. He was a bit put-off to realize just how outclassed by Harry he was in the fitness department. Harry was like a beautiful predator chasing after its prey, while Cedric felt like he was a stampeding erumpent, crashing his way through the path.

At the moment, Harold had the two of them working on their pull-ups, something that Cedric had never heard of before coming to his house.

"Ugg!" He grunted and let go of the bar in relief and stooping as he tried to relax his muscles. He had done three sets of twenty, not bad at all for a non-magical, but still not very good for a wizard. Howard himself could do ten sets of twenty in a workout before stopping, but the man had nothing on Harry, who was doing them in a way that suggested that he was barely straining when he did them. It was absolutely ridiculous! Every single time they did this part of the workout, Cedric tried to keep track of how many of them Harry was doing, and yet he could never keep track, Harry did them so quickly and effortlessly that whenever Cedric got distracted for a second, he would miss at least two.

According to Harold, that was Harry's slow speed. He shuddered to think what his fast speed was.

Harry had mentioned that he had an easy job of it, his inheritance had given him enhanced strength and lighter bones. The bones themselves were very strong, far stronger than a human's, but the way they were built was similar to a bird's, if birds had support beams anyway. Because of his strength, _and _his light bones, very few exercises challenged him. The only way he could get a good workout was to do an obscene amount of repetitions.

Cedric closed his eyes and began his finishing stretches. He could watch Harry finish from the wonderfully cold house.

* * *

December 29

Cedric woke up to the sound of shrieking, courtesy of Sirius.

He squinted a bit in the gloom, and could see that the man was stuck in some kind of trap that he had seen Harry place in the doorway before they had gone to sleep. The way that the man struggled in the doorway reminded him oddly of a spiderweb. A very large spiderweb.

He shuddered a bit at the thought. He wasn't afraid of spiders, not at all; but the thought of being trapped in what amounted to a sticky net was not a very pleasant one.

"DAMMIT HARRY! LET ME OUT OF THIS TRAP OR YOU WILL BE PRANKED UNTIL YOU ARE TOO SCARED TO LEAVE YOUR RO-" Cedric sighed in relief as he placed his wand back on the dresser and curled back around Harry. Silencing charms were wonderful things, especially when they involved Harry's nuisance of a godfather this early in the morning.

Remus could come and get Sirius for all he cared, there was _no_ way he was going to leave the bed.

* * *

Several hours later, Cedric found himself waking up to Harry's squirming as he tried to get out of his arms. He chuckled a but before kissing Harry on the top of his head and letting go; leaning back into the warm covers while Harry made his wild dash to the bathroom. He was just about to doze off again when he was doused with water. _That was __**really **__starting to get old!_

He heard Harry's laughter as he slowly brought up his hand to wipe the water off of his face. Really? How old was he? Five?

He grabbed his wand and used it to dry both himself the sheets, then slowly placed it back on the dresser and rubbed his eyes. He looked at Harry out of the corner of his eye, and smiled sinisterly. The smile grew wider when he noticed the Harry gulp unconsciously, and without warning, he jumped up and pounced on the younger boy. Harry's eyes widened when he realized that Cedric had him completely pinned. "No! Cedric don't you bloody dare-!"

Cedric smirked evilly as his fingers twitched threateningly. "No! Dammit Cedric if you do it I-ll….no-o-o! Stop-i-t Ced-dric I m-m-mean-it! You-"

Whatever Harry tried to say after that became lost in his giggles as he tried to squirm away. Cedric idly wondered if he should find another way to punish Harry, seeing how much Harry seemed to enjoy his treatment…. _Nah, this was much more fun._

Eventually Cedric stopped the assault, tweaking Harry's nose as a _behave!_ kind of gesture. before helping him up from the floor. Harry rubbed his aching ribs before taking a step forward, then squeaked in surprise when he found himself lifted off his feet and carried in Cedric's arms bridal style. He wasn't going to get a break was he?

"Hey! _Cedriiic!_ Put me down right now or i'll-" He saw Cedric's finger inching toward his rib and quickly added. "-do absolutely nothing." He would rather suffer the indignity of being carried than another tickle attack, his pride be damned.

It was a very smug looking Cedric that brought Harry down to the kitchen, letting him down agonizingly slow to prolong the torture. Harry gave him a small glare that turned into a pout when his smile widened, completely unrepentant. Grumbling to himself about 'bloody insufferable gits' Harry sat down, then jumped back up when he realized he hadn't checked the chair for spells. _Too late._

Cedric had a hard time hiding a smile when he saw the words painted on Harry's arse. "Kiss me, I'm Harry Bloody Potter!"

He lost the battle when he saw the supremely smug expression on Sirius' face.

Harry pointedly ignored them both and cast an overpowered finite incantatem. He conjured a pair of mirrors to see his behind, and nodded satisfactorily, ignoring his family when they could barely stifle their sniggering.

He cast another spell at the seat, then at the table, the tablecloth, the silverware, the cups, and the floor before feeling that it was safe enough to sit down.

Sirius' smile dimmed a bit when Harry dissolved the pranks, then he eyed Cedric (who audibly gulped).

Luckily for Cedric, Dobby popped into the room and asked what they all wanted to drink.

"Coffee." Remus announced.

"Coff-water." Sirius grumbled at Remus' look.

"Black Tea, thanks." Harry nodded.

"Whats coffee?"

Cedric turned a bit red when they all looked at him. "What? I've never heard of it before."

"Then Dobby is bringing some for Master Harry Potter Sir's Ceddy." Dobby announced before popping from the room.

Cedric's eyebrow rose in question, and Harry studiously ignored his gaze. Though it didn't help with the color rising on his neck. He quickly started to eat the breakfast before Cedric could ask him about it, and the others followed suit. Harry idly noticed that as Cedric drank, his pupils seemed to dilate.

After several minutes of uncomfortable silence Sirius mentally rubbed his hands together in glee. It was the perfect moment to strike.

"You know Cedric,…"he spoke between mouthfuls."….when I saw you bringing Harry down the stairs…I was wondering if you knew you were going the wrong way…?"

Cedric and Harry exchanged confused looks. Remus, seeing that this was not going to be something good, rubbed his eyes tiredly and focused on his coffee.

"I mean….normally you take your spouse to the _bed_, not to the table….Unless you like doing _it_ rough?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, reaching for his glass of (disappointingly) water. He already disliked being pregnant just for that, after all, what was life without his _what did those Americans call it? _cup of Josh?

Cedric spluttered loudly in denials at the question while Harry nonchalantly finished chewing and replied. "But it was getting so boring Siri, we've done it so many times in bed that I was _begging _Cedric to let us try something _new_." His voice dropped into a husky whisper at the end, and he struggled to keep a straight face.

Sirius spat out the water he had been drinking all over Cedric, who was sitting across from him. Cedric made a strangled gurgling noise, his mouth opening and closing without forming any words as his eyes darted between Remus and Sirius in abject terror.

Remus was the only one that noticed the glittering mischief in Harry's eyes, and snorted quietly into his cup while keeping a stern gaze on Cedric. This style of revenge was most definitely Lily's. After all, there was a reason why the Mauraders were terrified of pranking her. Once was scarring enough.

Harry's innocent smile soon cracked as he couldn't hold his laughter any longer. it was the only thing that kept a slightly hormonal Sirius (pregnancies affected men from conception) from Hexing Cedric (the capital in that word was assured) six ways from Sunday.

"You…should have ….seen ….your….faces! " Harry managed to gasp out, his face red from laughing so hard, barely keeping himself on his chair.

Sirius growled and made to go for his wand, only to find Remus twirling it in-between his fingers.

"Moony!" he whined, trying to reach for it while the werewolf moved it to his other hand.

"No Sirius, you can't hex Harry, you set yourself up for that one." He lectured sternly.

"But-"

"No!"

Sirius grumbled childishly and gave Harry his meanest look. He was going to pay him back for that.

"What did I do to deserve it?" Cedric whined.

His face was slowly regaining its color; he had nearly had a heart attack when Harry had said those things. Sirius had been _very _descriptive in the forms of torture he could inflict on him if he were to 'take advantage of his pup' . It was both disturbing and terrifying to hear the number of ways that he could be punished, especially the permanent ones. Because of this, he had promised that Harry would remain a virgin until the day he became legal. He valued his bits too much to do otherwise.

Harry, seeing his fright, gently rubbed his hand. "Sorry Ced, I didn't mean to scare you like that, I just wanted to get one over Sirius."

Seeing how Cedric still looked rather put-out, Harry leaned over and whispered into his ear. "I'll make it up to you later."

Cedric visibly perked up after that.

* * *

After breakfast, Dobby appeared to take the dishes away and popped back to the kitchen before Harry could ask him to stay. Harry sighed for a moment. He had explained to Dobby that he was considered as part of the family, and stressed the fact that he was supposed to sit with them and let them do some of the work around the house, but the little elf would not listen to a word. Sometimes he was sure that the elf was more stubborn than he was, which was bad enough according to Remus. The elf would come around though, he was sure of it.

"Alrighty then!" Sirius jumped up from the table. "Time for christmas presents!"

Harry rolled his eyes and smiled at his godfather's exuberance, while Cedric just looked confused. "What presents?"

Sirius and Remus looked directly at Harry. "What? I wanted it to be a surprise."

Remus sighed and shook his head a bit. "And let the poor boy think that he wasn't going to get any gifts from us?" Cedric's face burned a bit at the mention of it. He felt silly now for thinking that Harry and his family didn't want to get him some gifts.

Harry reddened a bit. "It seemed like a good idea at the time." He muttered churlishly before getting out of his seat, but everyone could see that he understood.

When they entered the room Harry could not help but smile a bit. This was his first true Christmas, in front of a tree with his family around him. It didn't matter to him if they were celebrating it a few days late.

"I don't think that staring at them is going to take the paper off any faster Harry. " Remus prodded, and Harry jumped.

He smiled sheepishly at his pseudo-father. "I know, its just that this is the first time I've seen a Christmas tree with presents around it meant for me;…It looks too nice to ruin the image."

Cedric's eyes darkened at the reminder of Harry's less than perfect life before he moved here, and he pushed away the feelings before Harry could see them. He ruffled Harry's hair affectionately, then gave him a nice swat on the bum to get him moving.

"Oy!" Harry yelped at the contact, turning to give Cedric his patented 'you better not do that again' look. Cedric immediately pointed to Sirius, and Harry snorted and rolled his eyes before turning around. Honestly, half the time Cedric was more immature than his godfather.

Cedric smiled at his back, then took a second look at the small pile of presents piled up under the tree. When he read several with his name on them he immediately ran at the tree like a five-year old on a sugar high.

Harry noticed his reaction and hid a smile. _Note to self, avoid giving Cedric coffee again._

Harry opened the package from Remus first, and was not surprised at all when it was filled with books, mostly on history, defense, or charms.

Sirius had also given him a book with no title, and Harry put it down to look at later so he could get a look at the other presents in the pile. He shook his head wearily when he saw the bag of prank products from The Greatest Gag,  a prank store that carried both magical and non-magical prank products.

"You might want to look at that book Harry. " Remus nodded in the direction of the strange book Sirius had given him. Now that he paid more attention to it(which was hard, it felt as if his gaze wanted to simply slide off of the book) he realized that there was a title on the cover, but he could not read it. It was like the words were blurred so badly that he couldn't make any sense of them. The book itself seemed new, but something about it told him that this was not the case. He gently picked up the book and ran his fingers over it. When they reached the clasp, he felt a small depression before a stinging pain in his finger forced him to let go of the book. He looked at the blood welling up and muttered _episkey _before rounding on his godfathers.

"What the bloody….no pun intended…hell was that?"

He heard Cedric gasp and turned back around to see some kind of misty haze flow over the book and vanish, revealing the title. The Potter Book of Shadows. 

For a second, Harry could swear that his heart had stilled. Could it be?…But..the book had been lost in that fire…..hadn't it?

He didn't realize he was hyperventilating until he felt Cedric's arms around him, trying to calm him down.

Taking a deep breath, he looked directly at Sirius, his throat choked with emotion. He couldn't bring himself to speak, and nodded, his eyes shining with gratitude. It took everything he had from jumping up and squeezing Sirius, but somehow he didn't think Remus would really appreciate that right now with Sirius pregnant, no matter that the child was much too small to be affected by such a thing.

He sat down on the floor, reverently running his hands over the cover and opening it.

The script was unfamiliar, an older version of english for sure, but as he moved through the pages the words became more and more familiar, until about halfway through the book it was perfectly legible. What he saw astounded him.

Wards, family spells and enchantments, fire and earth elemental techniques; every page he turned he found something new. He could hear his family laughing around him and the tearing of paper, but it all seemed far away with how focused he was on the book.

_Harry…..Harry! ….._"Harry!"

He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, then looked up to see Remus looking at him a bit worriedly. "Did you get sucked in?"

"Wha ?" He murmured unintelligibly, already trying to rebury his nose in the book.

A thin strip of cloth materialized between the pages and then the book was closed. Harry's eyes snapped up to glare at whoever interrupted his reading time and then noticed the floor was covered in wrapping paper. His family had all finished unwrapping their presents while he had been distracted by the book.

A slight flush of embarrassment appeared on his face when he realized he had been so caught up in reading it.

"How was it?" Cedric asked. He was currently looking at the titles of several Arithmancy and Ancient runes books that he had received from Remus. To his right was a large pallet of formal robes and non-magical streetwear, all brightly colored in reds, yellows, and blues. Those must have been from Sirius, Cedric hadn't had the chance to get his things from his home before he disowned himself, and given Harry's size, the clothes he had given to Cedric were tight at best, even with the clothing charms. So this was a very welcome gift.

"Its amazing!" He gushed, opening the page he had been reading to Cedric and was disappointed to see the blank look on his face. "What is it?" He asked.

The boy was acting strange, like he wanted to look at the book but couldn't.

"Ah, I forgot to mention that….the book prevents non-family members from reading the contents in order to protect the family secrets."

"But Cedric is family, he's my mate." Harry protested, seeing the disappointed look on the other boy's face.

"He is to you, but not to magic. He won't be considered family until you both bond." Remus patiently explained.

"You mean..?" Cedric asked, looking at Harry with a playful leer which disappeared when he saw Sirius glare at him.

Harry gulped a bit and reddened when he realized where this conversation was going. "I understand."

POP!

Harry was relieved when Dobby came into the room with a wrapped gift. Saved by the elf.

"This is for you Master Harry!" The elf beamed, handing it to him.

Harry took a moment to look at the animated snitches on the wrapping paper before unwrapping it and revealing several pairs of multicolored woolen socks.

"Thank you Dobby!" he exclaimed, then went searching through his pockets for the box he had set aside for the excitable elf..

Dobby's eyes grew huge at the sight of the box. "Master Harry Potter Sir got Dobby a gift?" The elf started to back away, as if he couldn't accept it.

Harry sighed. It was obvious that Dobby wasn't going to open the present on his own.

"Its for you Dobby, I want you to open it." He looked directly into the elf's eyes, kneeling so that they were at the same level.

"But! Mas-"

"Dobby, I order you to open your christmas present." Harry insisted.

The elf made a small noise that sounded suspiciously like a huff before gently taking off the blue and gold wrapping paper. He opened the lid of the box gently and then dropped it with a gasp, his eyes wide.

Cedric was curious to see what kind of gift could make the elf react like that, and when Harry gently took the top of the box off again he couldn't help but gawk at the items inside.

They were small bracers, made of gold and platinum and several other kinds of materials that he could not describe. The bands themselves were beautifully crafted, something that he believed even the goblins would envy in the way that they seemed to be made of one solid block of metal, utterly seamless and flowing. Along the outer edges he could see two coats of arms. The first had a skull at the top center of the shield with a gauntleted arm in front of a red background in the middle and three Passant ravens on the bottom of the shield, with a white background. The second had a rampant lion on the bottom with a blue background with a pair of Passant eagles walking on the upper half with a red background.

"Master Harry Potter Sir…Dobby cannot…." Harry shushed the elf and hugged him.

"Dobby, you will accept it, it is my gift to you, to protect you. Ok?"

The elf nodded dubiously, then grabbed the box and popped away before he could start wailing.

Harry sighed. "When is he going to understand that he is considered part of the family?" he asked rhetorically.

Then he remembered his last gifts.

With a small gesture he retrieved a small chest from his null-space. Inside were three packages, one for each other member of his family.

"I really didn't know what I could give you guys, so I decided that I would just give you all something useful and something fun." He admitted, waiting for them to open their boxes.

"What is this thing?" Sirius asked, holding the hover-ring gingerly, as if it would bite him.

Harry shook his head at his godfather's confused expression before retrieving his own hover-ring and the control band. He made a point of placing the band on his right wrist so that they saw him doing it, then with a mental command of _up, _the ring shot into the air.

Just to show off a bit, he had the ring move around his head, then stop right in front of Siri's face and flying in circles around his head as well. He laughed a bit when Siri kept on trying to keep the ring within his sight and kept on twisting around.

He commanded the ring to return to him, and then he took of the control band, which left the ring hovering in midair.

"That..is amazing Harry." Remus whispered, looking over the design of the ring in awe. "How did you make it?"

"Well first of all I needed to create a magical gyroscope of sorts, which used rings of runic sequences to detect how much the rings were tilting and then send the information to another part of the ring so the 'push' runes could balance it out. Then I…"

Cedric tuned out Harry's explanation of the rings as he showed Sirius how to use them. Harry had shown him a bit, but he still didn't know how he got the rings to do those loops. Every time he tried to do that the rings would fall out of the air and crash (but not break, thanks to the indestructible runes)

However, Sirius' driving.…the best way to describe it would be like a child, given that he was crashing the ring into different surfaces to see if it could survive.

He looked over the pile of paper in on the floor and frowned a bit at the thought of all the things that he received when he had not given them anything in return. Maybe he could ask if they could go into town later?

When he looked around to ask, he saw that Harry and Remus were completely absorbed in their conversation over how the rings worked. Sirius was still trying to find things to crash the ring into. Dobby, despite Harry telling him every day that he did not to clean as much as he did, was doing just that with the wrappings.

In a way he felt out of place, that this moment wasn't his to share with them. And then he saw the smile on Harry's face as he looked at him and he beckoned him to come over.

He was a part of this family now, and despite it not being his house, nor his birth family, nor the actual day of Christmas, this day was surely the best Christmas he had ever celebrated.

His gifts could wait until later.

* * *

Authors notes:

I know, this was a ridiculous amount of time between updates, and I apologize for that. My professors are absolutely insane with all the work they give out. I hope you guys enjoy it though. Next chapter is a time lapse between when they go back to the school and the second task.

And for those of you confused by the terms in the coat of arms:

amberskyline dot com / treasuremaps / coat - of - arms dot html delete the spaces and replace dot with .


	12. Chapter 11 Coming Back

Hi everyone, and sorry for taking a ridiculously long time to update. To be honest, I had been thinking of just abandoning this story, because once again, I believe that I made Harry far too powerful.

Thank you to kentrek1 for prompting me to continue working on this.

Ch11 Coming back

December 30, 1995

Neville Longbottom had always been a quiet boy, very shy thanks to his family's belief he was no better than a squib. And though he would never say it out loud, using his fathers wand certainly did not help his spell casting at all. He had always hidden in the shadows, whenever he could, not that Snape ever let him alone in Potions class.

He had always admired Harry, not for being the boy who lived, but for being who he was, how he seemed to take everything that was thrown at him and come out the better for it.

He hesitated at the doorway. He could see Harry and his boyfriend laying together in the train compartment, both looking half asleep. He doubted that they would like the intrusion.

Just then, Harry's head popped upward, looking at him. Then, he gestured, and he could feel a slight surge of magic from the door before it opened.

He cautiously stepped in. "Wards?"

Harry nodded, his head leaning on Cedric's chest.

"Oh." he said, standing there awkwardly, before sitting down opposite of them. With another gesture from Harry, the door closed by itself and a small wardstone on the ceiling reactivated.

Harry continued to look at him, not saying a word. He looked like he was barely able to keep his eyes open.

Neville, feeling uncomfortable, reached into his pack for a copy of Magical herbs and fungi, all that we know. Harry's eyes snapped to the bag, before he nodded to himself and curled up into Cedric's chest.

Neville looked up when he heard the sound of the cart coming down the train. Harry was completely curled up in Cedric's arms, fast asleep, while the older boy was awake and rubbing his hand through his hair fondly. A deep rumbling sound seemed to be coming from Harry's chest, now that he was paying attention. Neville blinked, and gave Cedric a strange look.

Cedric gave him a shrug when he looked at him, a question on his lips. "He always does this." He whispered.

"Hmm." Neville replied, unsure of what to think about the boy he had known for three years purring like an overgrown cat.

"Do you want something off of the cart?"

"What?" Neville looked back at him.

"Do you want something off the cart?" Cedric repeated, a gauntlet remarkably similar to the one Harry wielded appearing on his hand.

Neville stared at it for a bit, never having seen one of them up close before. he shook himself and nodded to Cedric, who made a similar gesture to Harry and deactivated the wardstone.

"Hey um, Neville was it?"

"Yeah?" Neville turned back, guessing that Harry had told him his name.

Cedric handed him a few sickles. "Can you get me some cauldron cakes while you're up?

"Um, sure." Neville grabbed the money and left the compartment. When he returned from buying the snacks he was startled when someone spoke from behind him.

"Hallo Neville, have the Nargles been leaving you alone?"

Without even turning around, Neville knew who he was talking to. "Hallo Luna, and…yes, they have left me alone. " He floundered a bit not really sure what to say to answer that question with.

"Good, may I join you and the dragonchilde?"

"Um…" he hesitated.

"Hey Neville, whats…oh, hello..who is this?" Cedric asked, looking at Luna curiously.

"This is Luna Lovegood, third year Ravenclaw. Luna, you know Cedric, right?"

"The dragonchilde's mate." She nodded decisively before walking into the compartment and sitting opposite of Harry, who was just waking up and stretching.

When he noticed her, Harry gave her a strange look, but when he saw the expressions on Cedric's and Neville's faces, he decided to just let it go.

"Lovegood…I know I've herd that name somewhere. Cedric muttered, more to himself than anyone else

"You both have an interesting lack of Nargles flying around you." She commented, already reading her copy of the Quibbler. Cedric gave her a blank look, as if he was trying to figure out what she saying. Harry found himself feeling around his head before he flushed in embarrassment and refocused on the strange girl.

"Hey, er..Harry…" Neville trailed off.

Harry yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Yeah Neville?"

"I was wondering….what exactly are you guys gonna do for the water task…I mean have you figured out the egg yet?"

Harry looked at Cedric, who shrugged and double checked to make sure that the wardstone was still silencing their compartment

Harry took out the paper with the words written down and handed it to Neville, Luna read it over his shoulder. While they were reading it, Cedric sneakily moved his hand up and started to scratch Harry's hair, making Harry close his eyes in bliss and start to rumble softly. He did not notice the strange look Neville gave him, nor did he see Luna's smile when he unconsciously started to nuzzle Cedric's hand.

"Um, Harry?" Neville asked, more than a little weirded out at seeing his friend acting like a cat of all things.

Harry's eyes snapped open when he realized what he was doing. He immediately moved away from Cedric's hand, shooting him the evil eye. Cedric gave a sheepish smile and put his hand down.

"Yes Nev?" Harry asked, ignoring his reddening cheeks.

"Er…I keep on reading the last four lines….this great divide it talks about is worrying me."

Harry's look of confusion was enough for him to continue.

"The great divide sounds like an underwater chasm or something….there are a lot of _really_ dangerous magical plants that live in the darkness."

"You mean like devil's snare?" Cedric asked

"Worse." Neville answered bluntly. "Have you ever heard of sea anemones?" Cedric shook his head while Harry nodded, a but impressed at how devoted Neville was to his art that he would look up muggle plants as well.

"Its hard to explain.." Harry began, seeing Cedric's confusion.

"Imagine a tentacle of the giant squid, a pale pinkish whited without the suckers on the tip." Neville began, his voice growing stronger as he moved on. Once he was sure of their attention he added. "Then think of a large circle of them that can sting their predators to make them go away."

Cedric held his hands apart as if measuring a distance, and Neville finished. "They are about the size of a dinner plate, and the tentacles are about a meter or so in length."

He hesitated, then spoke again. "The thing is….the magical version of the plant is far worse. They have claws? blades? I can't remember exactly what they were but the ends have them, and they can inject a poison that paralyzes you from just a scratch.." He stopped, seeing the disturbed looks on their faces.

"So some kind of shield that completely surrounds us? No problem." Harry spoke offhandedly, but he wasn't fooling anyone. He was worried. Given that they had used the angels snare in the earth task, he would not be surprised if the bloodthirsty planners of the tournament used something just as dangerous in this one.

"What did you think about the voices singing under the water then?" Cedric asked, desperately wanting to change the subject.

"The singers will never let the water nargles pass, on the word of their Jealous King." Luna Commented offhandedly, her eyes never leaving the pages of her magazine. The other three gave her strange looks then shrugged. Harry mentally filed it away though, something about the words seemed ominously like a warning.

The looks that were sent their way were disturbing, especially those of malicious glee that came from the Gryffindor table. It wasn't anger or hatred like Harry would have expected, but mostly cruel amusement and some scattered looks of pity in Cedric's direction.

Harry now had a _very_ strong desire to go find the offices of the Daily Prophet and burn them to the ground. It was the only thing that could explain why the entire hall seemed to know about Cedric's disownment.

"Hey no-name how does it feel to be the same as a squib?" Ron called, his face in an ugly sneer. As if it were a trigger, the hall exploded with insults and jeers, and the teachers did nothing to stop it. Harry saw red, and cast a silencing charm over everyone in his small group before pouring his power into a cannon-blast charm.

The hall was nearly flattened with the power of the sound, their ears ringing. Harry conjured a large posterboard, knowing that no one would be able to hear him properly.

_According to the Internation Confederation of Wizards, a creature has free reign in defending themselves and their mates from those who would wish them harm, so long as they do not kill._

He erased that line and replaced it with another. _As Britain is considered a member country of this organization, it follows those same rules._

He let that sink in for a moment before adding a final line. _Behavior like you have just displayed is more than enough for most creatures to attack. I chose to instead give you a lesson. I hope you learn it, because I will not tolerate this crap any more!_ To emphasize his point, he reached into his elemental power over fire and sent a river of it flying through the air of the hall before it dissipated. People had most likely already known about his ability over fire anyway, so he wasn't revealing anything important. Besides, creatures with fire elemental abilities, such as veela, were known to be very temperamental and protective of their families. It would help deter the masses even more.

His point made, Harry sat down at the Hufflepuff table and clapped his hands. A wave of healing energy exploded from him, healing the ears of everyone but the Gryffindor table, who was the farthest away. He sagged slightly before catching himself and serving his food. Cedric gave him a look halfway between exasperation and fondness before tucking in to his own, grabbing his hand and squeezing it in thanks.

The hall was silent for a good minute before talk started up again, and the Gryffindors had to resort to shouting so that they could hear each other. Not that it was very different from the way they talked in the first place.

Judging by the still hostile looks coming from the Gryffindor table, Harry would have a lot of work before he could convince them to leave him and his mate alone. He shrugged to himself. Their loss.

January 1

First day of term

Great Hall

Harry was sitting inconspicuously at the Hufflepuff table, ignoring all the glares that the Gryffindors were levelling at him for the itching powder constantly placed in their dorms. Ever since he had flamed both Cedric and himself away from the Yule Ball, the papers had been publishing articles that alternated between how disgusting Cedric was for consorting with a Creature and how dangerous Harry was as a fire elemental. He snorted at the thought. If only they knew just what he could do.

Harry knew that the alterations he had made to Dumbledore's office door would delay him long enough for the majority of the school to arrive, and that was what he had counted on. He supposed it was a little mean to relentlessly prank the Gryffindor table; but as long as it got them to stay away from him and his mate, he would happily do so until they got the point.

Dumbledore stormed into the Hall, a genial smile not quite hiding the tension in his shoulders and hands. It was obvious, to Harry at least, that the man was quite annoyed with being locked in his office. He was going to be a lot more annoyed by the time this meal was over, that was for sure.

As soon as he made it more than five steps into the hall, a staff appeared in his hand. Not a wizards staff as one might expect, but a gnarled piece of wood much like that of a sheperd's staff. And a soon as the staff touched his hand, nothing happened.

Dumbledore, who at the moment was feeling a little frustrated at the prank on his door, felt a slight smugness in that someone thought he was worthy of a staff. Until the thing refused to come off. Then his expression soured again. His stomach overruled him though, and he grudgingly sat at the head table to start eating with only his left hand.

He didn't get to eat much before a gong sounded in the hall. He whipped his head around, trying to find where the sound was coming from, only to hear something that made him cringe. "ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY SHEEPLORD!" was shouted across the room, seemingly coming from the staff, and an image of a innocent looking lamb hovered over Dumbledore's head.

And suddenly, as if it had been rehearsed, the entirety of the hall, Harry included, rose up from their seats. "ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY SHEEPLORD! ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY SHEEPLORD!" When the students sat down. various groups of them shrieked as the found themselves transformed into human sheep. Oddly enough, there were very few of them at the Slytherin table, the other tables having a more decent amount of the sheeple seated at them.

"What the bloody-BAA!" Ronald Weasley shouted as he looked at his arms. Then he registered what he had just said, and froze. Harry sniggered in his seat as Ron turned a angry red and bellowed. "Who-BAA di-BAA this to BAA me?" Several students laughed, only for the sound to turn to bleating halfway, mortifying them. The non-sheepified students laughed at their plight, and Cedric had a hard time hiding a smile at the ingenuity of his boyfriend's prank. Harry had been very specific in the wording, and by the looks on some of the students' faces, they understood the underlying message.

Dumbledore seethed at the impudence of the prank. It was obvious that Harry did it, he was the only one with the skills and power to do so. But he couldn't punish him as he was not currently a student, and his guardians were most probably the ones who put him up to this in the first place. He growled as Harry sent him a cheeky smile and left the table with his mate, wishing that he could find some way to get the fiendishly paranoid boy back under his control.

Later that day, the Library

Harry was sitting at a small corner table with Cedric, one of his wardstones keeping them unnoticed and undisturbed while allowing sound to come from the outside.

One might ask why he left it so he could hear outside of the desk. To hear someone coming their way? To eavesdrop on the other conversations?

In reality, it was neither of those things.

"BAA!"

Harry had been clever enough to tie the sheeple illusions to the spells depicting house crests on robes, meaning that the spell would be powered by the same magic coming from the robes themselves. If a student took of their robes and put on another set, the illusion would transfer to those robes as soon as they were put on. Harry believed that the illusion would last for a few more days, unless Dumbledore reset the magic governing the house system. He doubted that the man would do it though, given how much work it would take to put things back the way they were.

Cedric was currently studying as hard as he could for his NEWTs, which he had been planning to take a year early in order to start an apprenticeship with Flitwick. Now though, he was thinking about searching for a charms master in America, given the current animosity towards his mate in Britain.

"BAA!" He snapped his book shut and gave Harry his most annoyed look, before gesturing towards the wardstone. Harry gave him an innocent look of confusion but Cedric wasn't having any of it. He needed to study, and that was impossible with random students bleating so frequently.

"Fix it." He growled.

"Why?" Harry whined. "Its working just fine.

Cedric's glare intensified and Harry huffed at him. "Fine, spoil my fun." He grumbled before taking down the wardstone and concentrating. A few small additions were made to it, and then he raised the ward again.

Instantly, Cedric could tell the difference. Blessed Silence! He sighed in relief before going back to his books. Harry gave him a small glare before sighing to himself and opening a book on magical creatures. Might as well do something with his time.

January 8,

Hogsmeade

Cedric watched as the post owl flew away, a letter tied to its leg. He knew that Harry wanted to leave england as soon as the last task was over in June, and so he had decided to take his NEWTs even earlier than before. He was sending a letter to at least get Hopfink adjusted to the idea before he showed up in person to arrange for the test. He hoped that she didn't put up too much of a fuss over it, the last thing that he wanted to do was alert Dumbledore that he was trying to take the tests early.

January 12, Come and Go Room

Cedric gave the gauntlet on his hand a withering look after seeing the damage it caused.

Out of ten shots, only three of them had managed to hit the targets provided by the room. _Barely_.

Cedric really hate using the gauntlet, it went against every bit of training he had done with his wand, and his spells always ended up overpowered thanks to the lack of a buffer. The only good thing that he could see about the thing was that if he were in trouble, he could use it to cast a much more powerful shield than he could with his wand, thanks to the power crystal on the underside of it.

"Look on the bright side Ced, at least you hit with three of them this time." Harry commented. Cedric nearly growled at him. He loved Harry, he truly did, but sometimes his mate really needed to learn to filter his mouth. Half the time, whatever advice or _encouragement_ he gave made him feel worse. He gestured and sent a stinging hex at Harry's bum, and was surprised when it connected.

"Hey!" Harry cried out, rubbing his smarting arse. Then he stopped and beamed at Cedric, who gave him a bemused look. "See, you're getting it now, you just needed the proper motivation!"

Cedric's bemused expression turned into a predatory smile, and Harry gulped, realizing too late what he had just said.

"Bloody hell."He almost whimpered, before dodging out of the way of an overpowered tickling charm. This was not what he wanted to motivate Cedric!

January 23,

Hogwarts Main Library

"How the hell are we going to learn to deal with all these things?" Harry asked out loud. He had made lists upon lists of the many different creatures and plant life that could be used in the tournament, along with their weaknesses, strengths, and even best plans of attack, but there was just so much information. Even with his memory, it would take him at least a month to learn everything he needed to.

_**Master, you will never learn all of the dangers you might face….perhaps you should find better ways to protect your hide instead? **_Adena hissed.

Harry gave a pensive look, thinking about her words.

"What did she say?" Cedric asked, glancing at the place he knew that Adena was resting on Harry's shoulder.

"To focus on protecting my hide instead." Harry said, frowning a bit.

"Maybe she is saying that we should worry about protecting ourselves?" Cedric asked, then closed his mouth when he realized how that came out. Harry gave him an unimpressed look for his explanation and he flushed.

"It sounded better in my head." He muttered to himself. He reddened further when he heard a light hissing sound coming from Harry's direction and realized that it was Adena's form of laughter. Why was it that nothing he said came out right?

"Maybe she was saying to focus on more broad spells, like shields and force based ones…" Harry trailed off, before grabbing another piece of paper and starting a new list of spells.

"You mean like stuff that will push the other creatures away? Cedric asked. Harry nodded, then looked pensive. "Do you know any spells that act like depth charges?"

"Like what?" Cedric had no idea what Harry was talking about, was it some kind of muggle thing?"

"Um…like a very powerful sound….kinda like the cannon-blast charm, for underwater…?"

"There's one…..I can't remember what it's called though….I'll go take a look. " Cedric replied, standing up.

Harry nodded and gave the creature list a disdainful look before igniting it. It felt so good to be rid of that thing.

"Harry!"

February 11

London,

Ministry of Magic

Harry barely kept himself from stumbling as he came out of the floe. He moved of the of the way quickly, and just managed to avoid Cedric when he came out as well. Cedric gave him a funny look before gesturing with his wand and cleaning the soot from his clothes. Harry grimaced at the stuff before nodding in thanks. They both moved toward the wand registration desk, staffed by only a single bored looking wizard reading Quidditch Illustrated.

"Name and reason for visit?" The man droned, still looking at his magazine. Now that Harry looked closer, he could see that it was actually a copt of playwizard hidden inside the other magazine and scrunched his nose a bit. By the way Cedric was shaking beside him, he figured he was trying to suppress his laughs. Briefly, Harry wondered what would happen if he said something like Lord Voldemort, but refrained. By the way Cedric's eyes were boring into him, he probably knew what he had been thinking. It was scary how often he was doing that lately.

"Cedric and Harry Potter to visit the Department of Education." He stated clearly, and the man wrote their names down on the register without looking away from his magazine. Harry found himself slightly impressed that the man's hand wrote perfectly without looking at the paper. He would have given some made up names, but Cedric had talked him out of it, saying that there was no reason to do something like that when the visitor's logs were burned at the end of the day anyway. Harry had given him an incredulous look at learning that, and then muttered a very scathing 'wizards'.

Thankfully, Harry had at least convinced Cedric to have them put on glamours.

"Wands?" the man droned, his hand outstretched.

Cedric handed over his wand first, and the man tapped it to a small square next to his name. A small description of the wand appeared, and the man gave Cedric his wand back before asking for Harry's. Harry gave over his phoenix wand, there was no way he was going to let them scan his gauntlet.

After his wand was handed back to him, the both of them moved towards the lift. Thanks to the glamours, anyone who joined them in the elevator would not recognize Harry, which was the last thing that he wanted to happen. Not only was he very annoyed with the mountains of letters begging him to stay in England, but if someone recognized him, then it would be in the Prophet, and then Dumbledore would suspect something was going on.

"Department of Education." The lift spoke, and the both of them got off.

The department seemed small to Harry, almost empty. He could see a few of the strange memo-planes flying around, but nowhere near the amount he had seen when they stopped in other departments on the way up. Obviously, there wasn't much going on in this department. Though…given the reputation of Hogwarts outside of the country, he wasn't really that surprised.

"How can I help you dears?" A kindly looking woman asked them as they came up to the desk. She looked ancient, Dumbledore ancient or perhaps even older, but had a kind aura around her.

Cedric smiled charmingly at her, ignoring Harry's rolled eyes at the gesture. " I sent you a letter about taking my NEWTs early, and I …wanted to follow up."

Her eyes brightened slightly in recognition. "Ah yes, the Diggory boy, I remember your father was so proud when you signed up to take the NEWTs a year early."

Cedric flinched slightly and Harry glared at the woman, but she had already ducked under the desk in search of something. She hadn't sounded malicious when she said it, maybe she didn't read the prophet? That would be a first.

"So when are you taking them?" She asked, giving him a small form to fill out.

"May." Cedric answered, giving the parchment a cursory glance before starting to fill it out with a quill.

"Hmm." That is quite early dearie…." She frowned slightly at him and Cedric gave her a pleading look. Harry rolled his eyes again. Honestly, if Cedric hadn't spent so much time assuring him that he was only attracted to him, then he would have felt a bit jealous of the looks other people gave him when he acted like this.

She seemed to shake her head before sighing. "Very well dearie, I'll send you an owl when I have a date for the test."

"Um…can you make sure that it is sent to the hogsmeade post office?" Cedric asked her a bit tentatively. She didn't bat an eyelash.

"Of course dearie." She smiled at him when he thanked her before turning to the other things she was doing on her desk.

They left the ministry soon after.

Febuary 12

The day of the Second Task.

Harry woke up slowly, soft puffs of breath tickling his neck. Cedric was still asleep, his arms curled around Harry's frame.

Harry felt like such a sap, but he didn't care. Just being here, his mate wrapped around him; it made him feel so unbelievably loved and cherished. He knew how much Cedric cared for him, it was obvious. He hated feeling so insecure all the time, that at some point Cedric would find some reason to hate him. So when he woke up to his mate like this he felt truly happy that he was with him at the moment. He watched Cedric sleep for a few more moments before slowly moving out of bed. Normally, he was the last to wake, so he wanted to take this time to get ready and made sure that he had everything he needed for the second task.

He took a quick shower in the place the room provided him, and was greatly startled when Cedric walked into the bathroom before he had put his shirt back on. He hastened to cover his back, but he was too slow and Cedric's sleepy eyes narrowed on him.

"Harry?" His voice was calm, but Harry could hear the suppressed anger in it. He shuddered a bit, reaching for his shirt. It was behind Cedric. Balls.

"Yes Ced?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Whats that on your back?"

Harry tried to hide his face, but he couldn't, not with his back uncovered. He was terrified now, he had been trying to keep the scars away from Cedric's sight, thinking that his mate would be disgusted with him for not fighting hard enough, for being too weak to defend himself.

"Harry." This time Cedric's voice was more forceful, demanding.

"What?" He hissed, and felt some satisfaction at the pained look on Cedric's face. It didn't seem to deter him for long though.

"What the hell happened to your back?" Cedric asked bluntly, and Harry's face closed off as he turned away.

"Harry…was it….them?" Cedric asked tentatively.

Harry nodded, trying to hide the anger and misery that were warring within him. Cedric was going to think he was useless, weak..

And then suddenly he was in Cedric's arms, and he choked on a sob before grabbing him back just as tightly.

They stood there for what felt like hours, and when they finally let go Cedric's hand wiped a tear from his cheek. Why was he such a bloody girl about these things? If someone told him this was how a submissive creature was supposed to act then he would bury them up to their necks in earth! It was a ridiculous idea.

"No matter what those monsters did to you Harry, I will never leave you. I promise." At times like these that he really appreciated how insightful and careful Cedric was.

Harry nodded slowly and moved forward a bit uncertainly. Cedric grabbed him again and held him before kissing the top of his head. He sighed when he looked at his new watch.

"We should get downstairs Harry, the task is about to start."

Harry nodded, slowly putting on his armor and gauntlets as Cedric did the same. When they walked down to the lake, they were silent, but Harry could see the reassurance in Cedric's every movement, every look.

He nodded to himself, feeling foolish for even thinking Cedric would be ashamed of him, and looked over the great expanse of water. Oddly, he did not feel afraid. As long as he had Cedric to ground him, he would be ok.

When the flares were sent off, he jumped, Cedric at his side, and for the first time, every weight that had been on his shoulders disappeared.

Authors note:

Bleh…I really did not like the ending to this chapter.

I don't know how long it will take me to write the next chapter, but I promise it won't take as long as this one.

Thanks for those that gave me support


	13. Note

I'm sorry guys, I know you're all expecting an update.

First off, I am not discontinuing this story.

I am however going to spend some time fixing it, as reading it over now, I find a lot of things that I don't like.

The differences will be more subtle than not, but I hope you guys will like this better than this version

Until I say otherwise, this fic is a work in progress, and I won't be posting new chapters for a while.

Again, I'm sorry, but there are so many things bothering me that I can't leave them be. I didn't want this fic to end up a godlike Harry that crushes everything easily. I also don't like the way I am just using the standard evil dumbledore, he is such a flat character right now that I can't stand it.

Alright, now that I've finished my mini-rant, I'll just say that you should come to expect some minor and a few major changes in the storyline that should make it more interesting and original than all the other superpowerful creature!harry fics

That's all


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